Initial deployment of a robotic team - a hierarchical approach under communication constraints verified on low-cost platforms

In most real multi-robot applications, e.g., search-and-rescue, cooperative robots have to fulfill their tasks while driving and communicating among themselves without the aid of a network infrastructure. However, initially deploying autonomously a wireless sensor robot network in a real environment has not taken the proper attention. This paper presents an autonomous and realistic initial deployment strategy, based on a hierarchical approach, in which exploring agents, denoted as scouts, are autonomously deployed through explicit cooperation with supporting agents, denoted as rangers. To evaluate the initial deployment strategy proposed, experimental results with a team of heterogeneous robots are conducted using modified low-cost platforms previously developed by the authors. Preliminary results show the effectiveness of the method and pave the way for a whole series of possible new approaches.