Abstract
Several existing and emerging robotic applications such as ordnance disposal, disaster assessment, and search-and-rescue require high-speed communication links to span large distances. Path loss, combined with other wireless propagation effects, makes this a challenging problem. Directing radio frequency (RF) transmissions toward the intended receiver can mitigate this issue; however, operating smart antenna technology is costly for resource-constrained robots, and its performance degrades in light-of-sight (LOS) conditions, which is common in outdoor scenarios. In order to overcome this challenge, we propose adding a secondary radio, combined with a passive reflector, which is only employed when the primary omnidirectional radio is deemed unreliable. The dynamic switching of the directional radio between sleep and idle states provides communication diversity, while striving to conserve energy for battery-powered systems. An efficient link quality (LQ) estimator based on fuzzy logic provides the intelligence necessary to perform the radio switching action. Our method of passively assessing LQ at the transmitter is shown to be more efficient and agile than other presented LQ estimators, while still remaining effective in dynamic environments.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Maxwell, P., Larkin, D., Lowrance, C.: Turning Remote-Controlled military systems into autonomous force multipliers. IEEE Potentials 32(6), 39–43 (2013). doi:10.1109/MPOT.2013.2252240
Nguyen, H.G., Pezeshkian, N., Hart, A., Burmeister, A., Holz, K., Neff, J., Roth, L.: Evolution of a radio communication relay system. In: Proceedings of the SPIE 8741, Unmanned Systems Technology XV, May 17, 2013, pp. 87410H–87418
Pezeshkian, N., Neff, J.D., Hart, A.: Link quality estimator for a mobile robot. In: 9th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO), Rome, Italy (2012)
Zeiger, F., Kraemer, N., Sauer, M., Schilling, K.: Challenges in realizing ad-hoc networks based on wireless LAN with mobile robots. In: 6th International Symposium on Modeling and Optimization in Mobile, Ad Hoc, and Wireless Networks and Workshops, 2008, pp. 632–639 (2008)
Strickland, E.: Fukushima’s next 40 years. IEEE Spectr. 51(3), 46–53 (2014). doi:10.1109/MSPEC.2014.6745884
Samad, T., Bay, J.S., Godbole, D.: Network-centric Systems for Military Operations in Urban Terrain: The Role of UAVs. Proc. IEEE 95(1), 92–107 (2007). doi:10.1109/JPROC.2006.887327
Mostofi, Y., Gonzalez-Ruiz, A., Gaffarkhah, A., Ding, L.: Characterization and modeling of wireless channels for networked robotic and control systems - a comprehensive overview. In: IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems, 2009. IROS 2009, pp. 4849–4854 (2009)
Twigg, J.N., Fink, J., Yu, P.L., Sadler, B.M.: Efficient base station connectivity area discovery (2013)
Byung-Cheol, M., Matson, E.T., Khaday, B.: Design of a networked robotic system capable of enhancing wireless communication capabilities. In: 2013 IEEE International Symposium on Safety, Security, and Rescue Robotics (SSRR), pp. 1–8 (2013)
Ko, Y.B., Vaidya, N.H.: Location-Aided Routing (LAR) in mobile ad hoc networks. Wireless Netw. 6(4), 307–321 (2000)
Macone, D., Oddi, G., Pietrabissa, A.: MQ-Routing: Mobility-, GPS- and energy-aware routing protocol in MANETs for disaster relief scenarios. Ad Hoc Networks 11(3), 861–878 (2013). doi:10.1016/j.adhoc.2012.09.008
Veness, C.: Calculate distance and bearing between two Latitude/Longitude points using Haversine formula in JavaScript. Movable Type Scripts (2011)
Lowrance, C.J., Lauf, A.P.: Adding transmission diversity to unmanned systems through radio switching and directivity. In: 2014 IEEE/RSJ International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems (IROS 2014), pp. 3788–3793 (2014)
Hood, B.N., Barooah, P.: Estimating DoA From Radio-Frequency RSSI Measurements Using an Actuated Reflector. IEEE Sensors J. 11(2), 413–417 (2011). doi:10.1109/JSEN.2010.2070872
Dai, H.-N., Ng, K.-W., Li, M., Wu, M.-Y.: An overview of using directional antennas in wireless networks. Int. J. Commun. Syst. 26(4), 413–448 (2013). doi:10.1002/dac.1348
Santivanez, C., Redi, J.: On the use of directional antennas for sensor networks. In: 2003 IEEE Military Communications Conference, 2003. MILCOM ’03, vol. 671, pp. 670–675 (2003)
Goldsmith, A.: Wireless Communications. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge (2005)
Ye, T., Xu, K., Ansari, N.: TCP In wireless environments: problems and solutions. IEEE Commun. Mag. 43(3), S27–S32 (2005). doi:10.1109/MCOM.2005.1404595
Gage, D.W.: Network protocols for mobile robot systems. In: 1998, pp. 107–118. doi:10.1117/12.299558
NS-3. http://www.nsnam.org/
Souryal, M.R., Geissbuehler, J., Miller, L.E., Moayeri, N.: Real-time deployment of multihop relays for range extension. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Mobile systems, applications and services, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Yi, S., Pei, Y., Kalyanaraman, S., Azimi-Sadjadi, B.: How is the capacity of ad hoc networks improved with directional antennas? Wireless Netw. 13(5), 635–648 (2007). doi:10.1007/s11276-006-8147-0
Witus, G., Hunt, S., Janicki, P.: Methods for UGV teleoperation with high latency communications. In: 2011, pp. 80450N–80458
Stojcsics, D., Somlyai, L.: Improvement methods of short range and low bandwidth communication for small range UAVs. In: 2010 8th International Symposium on Intelligent Systems and Informatics (SISY), pp. 93–97 (2010)
Bapna, D., Rollins, E., Foessel, A., Whittaker, R.: Antenna pointing for high bandwidth communications from mobile robots. In: Proceedings of the 1998 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, 1998, vol. 3464, pp. 3468–3473 (1998)
Vlavianos, A., Law, L.K., Broustis, I., Krishnamurthy, S.V., Faloutsos, M.: Assessing link quality in IEEE 802.11 Wireless Networks: Which is the right metric?. In: IEEE 19th International Symposium on Personal, Indoor and Mobile Radio Communications, 2008. PIMRC 2008, pp. 1–6 (2008)
Boano, C.A., Zuniga, M.A., Voigt, T., Willig, A., Rmer, K.: The Triangle Metric: Fast Link Quality Estimation for Mobile Wireless Sensor Networks. In: 2010 Proceedings of 19th International Conference on Computer Communications and Networks (ICCCN), pp. 1–7 (2010)
IEEE: IEEE Std 802.11. In: Part 11: Wireless LAN Medium Access Control (MAC) and Physical Layer (PHY) Specifications (2012)
Barker, J.: You believe you understand what you think i said: The truth about 802.11 signal and noise metrics. (2004)
Reis, C., Mahajan, R., Rodrig, M., Wetherall, D., Zahorjan, J.: Measurement-based models of delivery and interference in static wireless networks. SIGCOMM Comput. Commun. Rev. 36(4), 51–62 (2006). doi:10.1145/1151659.1159921
Ko, J., Chang, M.: Momoro: Providing Mobility Support for Low-Power Wireless Applications. IEEE Syst. J. PP(99), 1–10 (2014). doi:10.1109/JSYST.2014.2299592
Baccour, N., Kouba, A., Youssef, H., Ben Jama, M., do Rosr̈io, D., Alves, M., Becker, L.: F-LQE: a Fuzzy Link Quality Estimator for Wireless Sensor Networks. In: Silva, J., Krishnamachari, B., Boavida, F. (eds.) Lecture Notes in Computer Science and Wireless Sensor Networks, vol. 5970, pp. 240–255. Springer, Berlin (2010)
Zhi-Qiang, G., Qin, W., Mo-Han, L., Jie, H.: Fuzzy logic based multidimensional link quality estimation for Multi-Hop wireless sensor networks. IEEE Sensors J. 13(10), 3605–3615 (2013). doi:10.1109/JSEN.2013.2272054
Navda, V., Subramanian, A.P., Dhanasekaran, K., Timm-Giel, A., Das, S.: MobiSteer: using steerable beam directional antenna for vehicular network access. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 5th international conference on Mobile systems, applications and services, San Juan, Puerto Rico
Ramanathan, R., Redi, J., Santivanez, C., Wiggins, D., Polit, S.: Ad hoc networking with directional antennas: a complete system solution. IEEE Journal on Selected Areas in Communications 23(3), 496–506 (2005). doi:10.1109/JSAC.2004.842556
Gesbert, D., Kountouris, M., Heath, R.W., Chan-Byoung, C., Salzer, T.: Shifting the MIMO paradigm. IEEE Signal Proc. Mag. 24(5), 36–46 (2007). doi:10.1109/MSP.2007.904815
Lilly, J.H.: Fuzzy control and identification. Wiley, Hoboken (2010)
Srinivasan, K., Dutta, P., Tavakoli, A., Levis, P.: Understanding the causes of packet delivery success and failure in dense wireless sensor networks. Paper presented at the Proceedings of the 4th international conference on Embedded networked sensor systems, Boulder, Colorado, USA
Srinivasan, K., Levis, P.: RSSI is under Appreciated. In: Proceedings of the Third Workshop on Embedded Networked Sensors (Emnets 2006) (2006)
Baccour, N., Koubaa, A., Mottola, L., Zuniga, M.A., Youssef, H., Boano, C.A., Alves, M.: Radio link quality estimation in wireless sensor networks: a survey. ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks (TOSN) 8(4), 34 (2012)
IEEE: IEEE Standard for Local and metropolitan area networks–Part 15.4: Low-Rate Wireless Personal Area Networks (LR-WPANs) (2011)
Liu, L., Li, J., Shu, J., Wu, Z., Chen, Y.: CCI-Based link quality estimation mechanism for wireless sensor networks under perceive packet loss. J. Softw. 5(4), 387–395 (2010)
De Couto, D.S., Aguayo, D., Bicket, J., Morris, R.: A high-throughput path metric for multi-hop wireless routing. Wireless Netw. 11(4), 419–434 (2005)
Wapf, A., Souryal, M.R.: Measuring Indoor Mobile Wireless Link Quality. In: IEEE International Conference on Communications, 2009. ICC ’09, pp. 1–6 (2009)
Huang, L., Lai, T.-H.: On the Scalability of IEEE 802.11 Ad hoc Networks. In: Proceedings of the 3rd ACM International Symposium on Mobile Ad hoc Networking and Computing 2002, pp. 173-182
Bing, Q., Biaz, S., Fangyang, S.: Accurate Assessment of Link Loss Rate in Wireless Mesh Networks. In: 2010 Seventh International Conference on Information Technology: New Generations (ITNG), pp. 862–866 (2010)
Broadcom: BCM2835. http://www.broadcom.com/products/BCM2835
Realtek: RTL8192CU, Single-Chip IEEE 802.11b/g/n 2T2R WLAN Controller with USB 2.0 Interface. http://www.realtek.com.tw/products/
Google. https://www.google.com/maps/
Sklar, B.: Digital communications, vol. 2. Prentice Hall, NJ (2001)
Kaelbling, L.P., Littman, M.L., Moore, A.W.: Reinforcement learning: a survey. J. Artif. Intell. Res., 237–285 (1996)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Lowrance, C.J., Lauf, A.P. Link Estimation in Robot Networks for Multi-Radio Control and Range Extension. J Intell Robot Syst 85, 245–275 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-016-0372-x
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10846-016-0372-x