Communication protocols for underwater data collection using a robotic sensor network

We examine the problem of collecting data from an underwater sensor network using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). The sensors in the network are equipped with acoustic modems that provide noisy, range-limited communication to the AUV. One challenge in this scenario is to plan paths that maximize the information collected and minimize travel time. While executing a path, the AUV can improve performance by communicating with multiple nodes in the network at once. Such multi-node communication requires a scheduling protocol that is robust to channel variations and interference. To solve this problem, we develop and test a multiple access control protocol for the underwater data collection scenario. We perform simulated experiments that utilize a realistic model of acoustic communication taken from experimental test data. These simulations demonstrate that properly designed scheduling protocols are essential for choosing the appropriate path planning algorithms for data collection.