Push&Pull: autonomous deployment of mobile sensors for a complete coverage

In this paper we propose a fully distributed algorithm for autonomous deployment of mobile sensors called Push&Pull, which is based on the interleaved execution of four basic activities. According to our proposal, movement decisions are made by each sensor on the basis of locally available information and do not require any prior knowledge of the operating conditions nor any manual tuning of key parameters. We prove that, unlike previous proposals, our approach guarantees a complete coverage, provided that a sufficient number of sensors are available. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the algorithm execution always terminates preventing movement oscillations. Extensive simulations show that our algorithm reaches a complete coverage within reasonable time with moderate energy consumption, even when the target area has irregular shapes. Performance comparisons between Push&Pull and one of the most acknowledged algorithms show how the former can reach a more uniform and complete coverage under a wide range of working scenarios, with lower energy consumption.