Low-Range Interaction Periodic Rendezvous Along Lagrangian Coherent Structures
Cong Wei, Herbert G. Tanner, Xi Yu, M. Ani Hsieh · 2019
This paper presents synchronous rendezvous conditions for minimally actuated and very short-range communicating mobile sensors in open sea environments. The working assumption is that the ocean currents of interest can be approximated by gyres or eddy flows arranged over a grid, in which each gyre is delineated by Lagrangian coherent structures. Sensor interactions can only occur between sensors in neighboring gyres, when they drift in close proximity, and over short time periods where the required distance is maintained. Within these application-dictated constraints, a cooperative synchronization controller is designed to establish and robustify periodic sensor rendezvous. Both the rendezvous conditions, as well as the rendezvous controller are tested and validated in simulation.