An opportunistic linear-convex algorithm for localization in mobile robot networks
This addresses localization challenges in mobile robot networks, where robots may lack nearby neighbors for updates, but it is incremental as it builds on existing linear-convex and barycentric coordinate methods.
The paper tackles the problem of localizing a network of mobile robots moving arbitrarily in a bounded region by developing a distributed algorithm that opportunistically updates locations only when nearby robots are available, based on noisy motion and distance measurements. It shows that the algorithm asymptotically converges to true locations in the noiseless case and can track the network with at least one known beacon, with modifications provided for noise handling.
In this paper, we develop a \textcolor{black}{\emph{distributed}} algorithm to localize a network of robots moving arbitrarily in a bounded region. In the case of such mobile networks, the main challenge is that the robots may not be able to find nearby robots to implement a distributed algorithm. We address this issue by providing an opportunistic algorithm that only implements a location update when there are nearby robots and does not update otherwise. We assume that each robot measures a noisy version of its motion and the distances to the nearby robots. To localize a network of mobile robots in~$\mathbb{R}^m$, we provide a simple \emph{linear} update, which is based on barycentric coordinates and is linear-convex. We abstract the corresponding localization algorithm as a Linear Time-Varying (LTV) system and show that it asymptotically converges to the true locations~of~the robots. We first focus on the noiseless case, where the distance and motion vectors are known (measured) perfectly, and provide sufficient conditions on the convergence of the algorithm. We then evaluate the performance of the algorithm in the presence of noise and provide modifications to counter the undesirable effects of noise. \textcolor{black}{We further show that our algorithm precisely tracks a mobile network as long as there is at least one known beacon (a node whose location is perfectly known).