Experiments on autonomous mobile sensor control for target tracking

Technology advancements in robotics and communication make it possible to combine mobility and static wireless sensor networks. Being able to locomote enables sensors to (1) adjust their positions for better sensing quality, (2) ensure field coverage by spreading out and (3) fill up communication gap to guarantee information sharing in wireless environment. Concerning the above three criteria, we propose a autonomous management scheme for mobile sensors, aims to achieve distributed sensor position control. Accordingly, we developed a testbed for mobile sensor network verification, with good interfaces to obtain ranging measurements and control sensor motion. Implementation details of building static and mobile sensors are given. Finally we present experiment results to verify the proposed sensor control scheme.