Indoor cooperative robot movement protocol for mapping unknown floorplan using impulse ultra wideband communication and localization

A new dispersing protocol for mobile radios equipped with Impulse-Ultra Wide-band communication and localization tools is presented. The network supports communication and ranging between mobile nodes localized relative to a central base station. The mobile radios are autonomous and they make independent decisions based on the information they receive from other radios. Their decision for the direction they move supports their connectivity with other radios, minimizes position dilution of precision, and increases the covered area. The proposed protocol has been designed in a way that radios are able to explore and map an unknown floor space. These radios use Impulse-Ultra Wideband to communicate with each other. The pulsed-transmission nature of Impulse-Ultra Wideband has many advantages over conventional continuous-wave communication including non-interference, multi-path immunity, and precision through-wall ranging capability. The non-interfering advantage is utilized for re-assessment of pure Aloha scheduling. Through modeling and experimentation, Aloha was found to be compelling for real-time Impulse-Ultra Wideband communication and positioning in a mesh of mobile nodes with continually changing network dynamics. The throughput of Aloha for the applied system has been compared with a narrowband system.