A protocol for decentralized multi-vehicle mapping with limited communication connectivity

This paper addresses the problem of communication range limitations for decentralized multi-vehicle mapping. We present a novel integrated communication and planning protocol that enables all vehicles to form a common global map. The fusion of mapping information is facilitated through the Information Filter and performed over a connected acyclic wireless communication network with limited communication range. The formation of the acyclic connected communication network is achieved by partitioning the landmark graph using graph theoretic tools during the planning phase. We provide results that illustrate the effectiveness of our approach over different distributions of landmarks.