Distributed Network Aggregation of Multiple Minimalist Robots Using Binary Sensors Under DoS Attack

This article introduces distributed network aggregation controllers to let all minimalist robots (MRs) aggregate close to a specified point. Here, one says that all MRs are aggregated close to a specified point, if they are within a certain hop distance from the specified point. Every MR is initially distributed in an unknown cluttered obstacle-rich environments, in which global position system signal is not available. This article assumes that each MR moves with a bounded speed and has a cheap signal intensity sensor with a limited field of view (FOV). An MR uses a cheap signal intensity sensor as a binary sensor for detection of another MR inside the FOV. Aggregation controls are proposed in this study, so that network connectivity is assured while an MR moves. In practice, random Deny-of-Service (DoS) attack can exist, blocking communication between MRs in multiagent system. One shows that the proposed aggregation controls are robust to random DoS attack whose consecutive duration time is bounded above. As far as we know, this article is novel in addressing how to make all MRs aggregate close to a specified point, considering obstacle-rich environments. Moreover, this article is novel in using a signal intensity sensor with a limited FOV for distributed aggregation of multiagent systems. It is proved that all MRs aggregate close to a specified point, while assuring network connectivity in cluttered environments. We demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach utilizing extensive MATLAB simulations in obstacle-rich environments. In MATLAB simulations, we run Monte Carlo simulations, while varying the simulation parameters. In all Monte Carlo simulations, all MRs succeed in aggregation tasks while maintaining network connectivity.