Cooperative localization and tracking of time-dependent sources

In this paper, decentralized, distributed control laws are investigated for cooperative robotic systems whose task is to localize and track the source of an unknown time-varying field. Special attention is focused on what properties must be true to allow successful localization, tracking, and estimation of the source. The control laws are determined from a second-order model of the time-varying field. The closed loop stability properties for the individual robots and the entire robot collective are demonstrated using Lyapunov's direct method and a vector Lyapunov approach.

Cooperative localization and tracking of time-dependent sources Conference Paper