Communication Constrained Distributed Spatial Field estimation Using Mobile Sensor Networks

Abstract

Abstract In this paper we address the problem of distributed estimation of spatial fields using mobile sensor networks with communication constraints. These constraints consist of a maximum communication bandwidth which limits the amount of data that can be exchanged between any two nodes of the network at each time instant. An algorithm to select the most significant data to be transferred between neighboring sensor nodes is developed starting from derived analytical error bounds. Moreover, the motion of the network nodes is controlled using a coverage control algorithm with the objective of minimizing the estimation uncertainty of each of the nodes. The resulting communication constrained distributed estimation algorithm is deployed on a team of ground mobile robots in the Robotarium, and its performance is evaluated both in terms of estimation accuracy of a simulated spatial field, and of the amount of data transferred.