Distributed Allocation of Mobile Sensing Swarms in Gyre Flows
Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-4-2013
Abstract
We address the synthesis of distributed control policies to enable a swarm of homogeneous mobile sensors to maintain a desired spatial distribution in a geophysical flow environment, or workspace. In this article, we assume the mobile sensors (or robots) have a "map" of the environment denoting the locations of the Lagrangian coherent structures or LCS boundaries. Using this information, we design agent-level hybrid control policies that leverage the surrounding fluid dynamics and inherent environmental noise to enable the team to maintain a desired distribution in the workspace. We discuss the stability properties of the ensemble dynamics of the distributed control policies. Since realistic quasi-geostrophic ocean models predict double-gyre flow solutions, we use a wind-driven multi-gyre flow model to verify the feasibility of the proposed distributed control strategy and compare the proposed control strategy with a baseline deterministic allocation strategy. Lastly, we validate the control strategy using actual flow data obtained by our coherent structure experimental testbed.
DOI
10.5194/npg-20-657-2013
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Mallory, K.; Hsieh, M. A.; Forgoston, Eric; and Schwartz, I. B., "Distributed Allocation of Mobile Sensing Swarms in Gyre Flows" (2013). Department of Applied Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 43.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/appliedmath-stats-facpubs/43