Simulation-based evaluation of robot and wireless sensor network interaction

The main goal of the present research is to analyze the interaction scenarios between an autonomous vehicle or robot and a wireless sensor network. This paper presents the design solutions and experimental results for two problems: autonomous navigation guided by a sensor network and environmental data acquisition using a moving robot. In order to evaluate different scenarios and algorithms a simulation application was developed. The application allows random or manual definition of environmental scenarios and implements different algorithms for navigation and data acquisition. The results can be analyzed through a graphical user interface. The application may be used to model and evaluate a given real scenario or to test new algorithms in a randomly generated environment.