Pattern formation experiments in mobile actuator and sensor

Mobile actuator and sensor network (MAS-net) is a project that adds node mobility and close-loop control concept into the field of wireless sensor network. An experiment platform is built for the MAS-net project. In the experiment platform, cheap, small, and energy-efficient Mica2 motes have been used as both wireless sensors and real-time embedded mobile robot controllers. These mote-based robots are called MAS-motes. An integrated system has been developed to locate MAS-motes by an overhead camera, collect MAS-motes´ sensor reading and assign destinations to MAS-motes. This system can communicate with robots via Mica2 motes´ built-in radio chips. Pattern formation can bring great benefit to mobile wireless sensor network in sensing range, fault tolerance and sensor-actuator cooperation. This paper tries to use cheap, energy-efficient and mote-based MAS-motes to achieve formation with a given pattern.