Robot Biconnectivity Problem Given a positive integer c, the RNB decision problem is to identify a sequence of movements M such that and GM is biconnected? REQUIREMENTS Work with robots that have minimal sensing Distributed computation Work with local information only Improve connectivity incrementally
Step I: Compute Biconnected Components (Chang’s algorithm) Step 2: Identify nodes to move Compute relative bearing at articulation points Identify nodes closest to each other belonging to different biconnected components Compute cost of move Step 3: Move Command node with least cost to move If edge is established, complete iteration else command next node to move
Algorithm Performance (simulation) Algorithm resilient to error in relative bearing (upto 30 degrees) Performance degrades gracefully with error Significant increase number of vertex-unique paths between nodes
Relative Bearing Computation Use radio signal strength (RSS) to compute bearing Sampled RSS in local neighborhood of robot Compute PCA to determine principal access of RSS gradient Step distance – a tunable parameter Average bearing error is ~20° for step size 1.5 m
Sample Experimental Trial
Algorithm Performance (Experiment) Bearing Error Coverage Connectivity