A Coverage Algorithm for Multi-robot Boundary Inspection

This paper introduces the multi-robot boundary coverage problem, wherein a group of k robots must inspect every point on the boundary of a 2-dimensional test environment. Using a simplified sensor model, this inspection problem is converted to an equivalent graph representation. In this representation, the coverage problem can be posed as the k-Rural Postman Problem (kRPP). We present a constructive heuristic which finds a solution to the kRPP, then use that solution to plan the robots’ inspection routes. These routes provide complete coverage of the boundary and also balance the inspection load across the k robots. Simulations illustrate the algorithm’s performance and characteristics.