Cooperative Robots And Sensor Networks

This book compiles some of the latest research in cooperation between robots and sensor networks. Structured in twelve chapters, this book addresses fundamental, theoretical, implementation and experimentation issues. The chapters are organized into four parts namely multi-robots systems, data fusion and localization, security and dependability, and mobility.

Mobile robots and Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) have enabled great potentials and a large space for ubiquitous and pervasive applications. Robotics and WSNs have mostly been considered as separate research fields and little work has investigated the marriage between these two technologies. However, these two technologies share several features, enable common cyber-physical applications and provide complementary support to each other. The primary objective of book is to provide a reference for cutting-edge studies and research trends pertaining to robotics and sensor networks, and in particular for the coupling between them. The book consists of five chapters. The first chapter presents a cooperation strategy for teams of multiple autonomous vehicles to solve the rendezvous problem. The second chapter is motivated by the need to improve existing solutions that deal with connectivity prediction, and proposed a genetic machine learning approach for link-quality prediction. The third chapter presents an architecture for indoor navigation using an Android smartphone for guiding a variety of users, from sighted to the visually impaired, to their intended destination. In chapter four, the authors deal with accurate prediction modeling of ocean currents for underwater glider navigation. In chapter five, the authors discuss the challenges and limitations of RSS-based localization mechanisms and propose, EasyLoc, an autonomous and practical RSS-based localization technique that satisfies ease of deployment and implementation.

This book is the second volume on Cooperative Robots and Sensor Networks. The primary objective of this book is to provide an up-to-date reference for cutting-edge studies and research trends related to mobile robots and wireless sensor networks, and in particular for the coupling between them. Indeed, mobile robots and wireless sensor networks have enabled great potentials and a large space for ubiquitous and pervasive applications. Robotics and wireless sensor networks have mostly been considered as separate research fields and little work has investigated the marriage between these two technologies. However, these two technologies share several features, enable common cyber-physical applications and provide complementary support to each other. The book consists of ten chapters, organized into four parts. The first part of the book presents three chapters related to localization of mobile robots using wireless sensor networks. Two chapters presented new solutions based Extended Kalman Filter and Particle Filter for localizing the robots using range measurements with the sensor network. The third chapter presents a survey on mobility-assisted localization techniques in wireless sensor networks. The second part of the book deals with cooperative robots and sensor networks applications. One chapter presents a comprehensive overview of major applications coupling between robots and sensor networks and provides real-world examples of their cooperation. Two other chapters present applications for underwater robots and sensor networks.

Examines new cooperative control methodologies tailored to real-world applications in various domains such as in communication systems, physics systems, and multi-robotic systems Provides the fundamental mechanism for solving collective behaviors in naturally-occurring systems as well as cooperative behaviors in man-made systems Discusses cooperative control methodologies using real-world applications, including semi-conductor laser arrays, mobile sensor networks, and multi-robotic systems Includes results from the research group at the Stevens Institute of Technology to show how advanced control technologies can impact challenging issues, such as high energy systems and oil spill monitoring

Wireless sensor networks have gained much attention these last years thanks to the great set of applications that accelerated the technological advances. Such networks have been widely investigated and many books and articles have been published about the new challenges they pose and how to address them. One of these challenges is node mobility: sensors could be moved unexpectedly if deployed in an uncontrolled environment or hold by moving object/animals.Beyond all this, a new dimension arises when this mobility is controlled, i.e. if these sensors are embedded in robots. These robots cohabit with sensors and cooperate together to perform a given task collectively by presenting hardware constraints: they still rely on batteries; they communicate through short radio links and have limited capacities.In this book, we propose to review new challenges brought about by controlled mobility for different goals and how they are addressed in the literature in wireless sensor and Robot networks, ranging from deployment to communications.

This book dives into the heart of how to design distributed control architectures for heterogeneous teams of humans, robots, and automated systems, enabling them to achieve greater cooperation and autonomy through the use of network technologies. It provides a wide range of practical, proven strategies for pervasive communication and collaborative problem solving abilities of humans, robots, and their environments. Each chapter consists of a presentation of findings from the latest research in networked robots and ambient intelligence. The chapters also detail how to allow robots to achieve universal access to the extended functionality of the environment that brings various cost effective services to those in need. Readers can envision a realistic view of what can be expected from a networked human robot cooperative environment in the next decade.

Through expanded intelligence, the use of robotics has fundamentally transformed a variety of fields, including manufacturing, aerospace, medicine, social services, and agriculture. Continued research on robotic design is critical to solving various dynamic obstacles individuals, enterprises, and humanity at large face on a daily basis. Robotic Systems: Concepts, Methodologies, Tools, and Applications is a vital reference source that delves into the current issues, methodologies, and trends relating to advanced robotic technology in the modern world. Highlighting a range of topics such as mechatronics, cybernetics, and human-computer interaction, this multi-volume book is ideally designed for robotics engineers, mechanical engineers, robotics technicians, operators, software engineers, designers, programmers, industry professionals, researchers, students, academicians, and computer practitioners seeking current research on developing innovative ideas for intelligent and autonomous robotics systems.

This is the first book to focus on solving cooperative control problems of multiple robot arms using different centralized or distributed neural network models, presenting methods and algorithms together with the corresponding theoretical analysis and simulated examples. It is intended for graduate students and academic and industrial researchers in the field of control, robotics, neural networks, simulation and modelling.