Considerations of Charging Vehicles and Environmental Charging in Sensor Deployment Problems

Extending the lifetime of sensors is a crucial research topic in wireless sensor networks. Several charging methods, including mobile vehicle charging and environmental charging, have been proposed to address this issue. To ensure the sustainable operation of sensors, an optimal deployment strategy should consider factors such as target coverage, environmental charging conditions, and the length of the charging path required for mobile vehicles. Hence, a novel sensor deployment method that uses a genetic algorithm to maximize the environmental charging efficiency of sensors while minimizing the frequency and distance of charging vehicle visits is proposed in this paper. In the target field, a sensor is deployed for each target, and the sensor can obtain energy from the environment. This paper describes how to use a genetic algorithm to determine the deployment location of sensors and designs relevant objective functions and constraints. Through experimental simulations, it is demonstrated that the proposed deployment method can effectively reduce the frequency of charging required through charging vehicles.