Scheduling of static sensor networks and management of mobile sensor networks for the detection and containment of moving sources in spatially distributed processes

In this paper we extend our previous work and consider two related problems: the first one proposes a method for the scheduling of static sensors in a network where it is assumed that an array of sensing devices is available to provide measurements on the state of a process governed by a partial differential equation. The second problem considers the guidance of a mobile sensor network used in a process governed by a partial differential equation. In the latter, it is assumed that the mobile sensors can move at discrete time instances, and hence the integrated sensor motion plus process can be modeled as a hybrid infinite dimensional system. It is shown that with the specific assumption made for the second problem, the two problems are essentially identical. The scheduling of static sensor network, or equivalently the guidance of mobile agents in a mobile sensor network, is subsequently used to address two tasks: (1) the improved estimation of the process state and (2) the detection of an intruder, which is modeled as a moving source. Such a moving source is used to model mobile contaminating chemical or biological sources in confined cavities. When the additional assumption of a joint sensor-and-actuator network, wherein the sensor network has actuating capabilities with the actuating devices collocated to the sensing devices, then the control problem becomes that of minimizing the effects of the mobile source on the process state. Such a control objective is essentially intruder containment and a simple and computationally efficient containment policy is proposed. Simulation results that demonstrate the effectiveness of mobile sensor-plus-actuator network in detecting and combating intruders are presented.