S-MASA: A stigmergy based algorithm for multi-target search

We explore the on-line problem of coverage where multiple agents have to find a target whose position is unknown, and without a prior global information about the environment. In this paper a novel algorithm for multi-target search is described, it is inspired from water vortex dynamics and based on the principle of pheromone-based communication. According to this algorithm, called S-MASA (Stigmergic Multi Ant Search Area), the agents search nearby their base incrementally using turns around their center and around each other, until the target is found, with only a group of simple distributed cooperative Ant like agents, which communicate indirectly via depositing/detecting markers. This work improves the search performance in comparison with random walk and S-random walk (stigmergic random walk) strategies, we show the obtained results using computer simulations.