Bayesian‐Based Domain Search Using Multiple Autonomous Vehicles with Intermittent Information Sharing
Yue Wang, Islam I. Hussein · Asian Journal of Control · 2012
Abstract This paper focuses on the development of Bayesian‐based domain search strategies using distributed multiple autonomous vehicles with intermittent communications. Multi‐sensor fusion based on observations from neighboring vehicles is implemented via binary Bayesian filtering. We prove theoretically that, under appropriate sensor models, the belief of whether there exists an object at every discretized cell in the domain will converge to the true state. An uncertainty map representing the entropies associated with these probabilities is constructed to guide the vehicles’ motion for domain exploration. Under the proposed strategies, all objects in the search domain will be detected. Different motion control schemes are numerically tested to confirm the effectiveness of the proposed search strategies.