Dynamic Environment Coverage Control for Heterogeneous Robot Networks

This paper studies the coverage control optimization problem of heterogeneous robot networks in a dynamic environment. There are movable objects in the task region, and a time-varying density function is used to describe the dynamic environment. Two different robots by different models are used collaboratively to implement the area coverage task. The sliding mode control method is used to design the controller for the first-order integral model robot considering the external disturbance, and it is proved that the controller can make the first-order model robot track the optimal position in a fixed time. Considering the influence of the external disturbance, the controller is designed for underactuated wheeled robots and it is proved that the controller can drive wheeled robot tracking their optimal configuration. Hence, the optimal coverage effect of a heterogeneous robot network on the task region is achieved. Finally, some simulation results are given to verify the effectiveness of the designed controllers, and the optimization of coverage effect of task region is realized.