Connectivity-aware motion control among autonomous mobile units

The research presented in this paper addresses the issue of distributed motion control for keeping certain degree of wireless connectivity among mobile units. In our approach, each mobile unit is equipped with an omnidirectional antenna that communicates at 2.4 GHz (IEEE 802.15.4). We first propose a framework for connectivity tracking and computation of relative positions. Then, based on the generated relative positions, a motion control strategy is presented aiming at maintaining a required level of connectivity among mobile units. We implemented the proposed framework on IEEE 802.15.4 based nodes and validated the idea of generating connectivity-aware relative positions. A set of simulation and experimental results are shown that illustrate the effectiveness of the motion control strategy.