Local control strategy for target tracking in mobile sensor networks

This paper addresses the problem of tracking a dynamic target using a mobile sensor network. The algorithm aims to move as few nodes as possible to maintain the dynamic target within the coverage of the network all the time. First we define the tracking uncertainty concept and obtain its derivative with the target dynamics. Then a potential function is set up to represent the network connectivity. The nodes which detect the target broadcast the target state information. A local control strategy is proposed for the node motion to minimize the tracking uncertainty under the connectivity constraint. Simulation has been conducted to demonstrate the performance of the algorithm in different situations.