Dynamic Routing and Robotic Coordination for Oceanographic Adaptive Sampling
Abstract:
Networks of autonomous coordinated robots areprototypical examples of cyber-physical systems. Already today and increasingly in the near future, robotic systems will perform a broad range of environmental monitoring and logistic tasks. Aquatic robots will monitor oceanic life and conditions. Teams of vehicles will perform exploration, firefighting and search and rescue operations. Groups of robots will enablenovel logistic capabilities in the transportation of goods and the delivery of services and resources to customers. We propose the design of innovative routing, planning and coordinationstrategies for robotic sensor/actuator networks, and their application to oceanography. We argue that routing, planning and coordination algorithms in robotic networks are crucial. The key technological challenge is the deci sion of "who does what, when" or, equivalently, "how are tasks partitioned among robots, in what order are they to be performed, and along which routes do individual robots move." These issues are indeed critical in the USC Networked Aquatic Platforms, where, in collaboration with applied oceanographers and marine biologists, we plan to design motion, communication and interaction protocols in order to maximize the amount of scientific information collected by the platforms.