Patrolling Operation Using Functional Heterogeneous Two-Wheeled Mobile Robots and Viewpoints

Abstract

In this paper, the patrolling operation using two-wheeled mobile robots for monitoring a given area is considered. The two-wheeled mobile robots are considered to be functionally heterogeneous while visiting a set of viewpoints which are considered heterogeneous as well. The problem is typically related to the well-known Travelling Salesman Problem. The functionally heterogeneous two-wheeled mobile robots will only be able to visit the viewpoints that correspond to their heterogeneous functionalities. This could be related to their heterogeneous monitoring capabilities. It is required to obtain the optimal overall minimum travel distance while preserving the constraints of the heterogeneous monitoring functionality to have the most efficient patrolling performance. A new formulation is introduced using mixed-integer programing with simulations to present the exact optimal trajectories that can represent such problems.