Skip to main content

Robotic Exploration, Brownian Motion and Electrical Resistance

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Randomization and Approximation Techniques in Computer Science (RANDOM 1998)

Abstract

A random method for exploring a continuous unknown planar domain with almost no sensors is described. The expected cover time is shown to be proportional to the electrical resistance of the domain, thus extending an existing result for graphs [11]. An upper bound on the variance is also shown, and some open questions are suggested for further research.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Arkin E. M., Hassin R., “Approximation Algorithms for the Geometric Covering Salesman Problem,” Discrete Applied Math. 55, pp 197–218, 1994.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  2. Aleliunas R., Karp R.M., Lipton R. J., Lovasz L., Rakoff C., “Random Walks, Universal Traversal Sequences, and the Complexity of Maze Problems,” in 20’th Annual Symposium on Foundations of Computer Science, p. 218–223, San Juan, Puerto Rico, October 1979.

    Google Scholar 

  3. Aldous D. J., “Threshold Limits for Cover Times,” Jornal of Theoretical Probability, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1991, pp. 197–211.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  4. Berger M., Geomtery II, Springer-Verlag, Berlin-Heidelberg 1987.

    Google Scholar 

  5. Giralt G., Weisbin C., (Editors), Special issue on autonomous robots for planetary exploration, Autonomous Robots, 2 (1995) pp. 259–362.

    Google Scholar 

  6. Balch T., Arkin R. C., “Communication in reactive multiagent robotic systems,” Autonomous Robots, 1 (1994) pp. 27–52.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Baeza-Yates R., Culberson J. C., Rawlins G. J. E., “Searching in the Plane,” Information and Computation, 106 (1993) pp. 234–252.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  8. Bar-Noy A., Borodin A., Karchemer M., Linial N., Werman M., “Bounds on Universal Sequences,” SIAM J. Comput., Vol. 18, No. 2, pp.268–277, (1989).

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  9. Bridgland M.F., “Universal Traversal Sequences for Paths and Cycles,” J. of Alg., 8, (1987), pp.395–404.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  10. Broder A. Z., Karlin A. R., Raghavan P., Upfal E., “Trading Space for Time in Undirected s-t Connectivity,” SIAM J. COMPUT., Vol. 23, No. 2, pp. 324–334, April 1994.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  11. Chandra A. K., Raghavan P., Ruzzo W. L., Smolensky R., Tiwari P., “The Electrical Resistance of a Graph Captures its Commute and Cover Times,” Proc. 21st ACM STOC, (1989), pp. 574–586.

    Google Scholar 

  12. Chin W. P., Ntafos S., “Optimum Watchman Routes,” 2’nd Annual Symposium on Computational Geometry, Yorktown Heights, NY, June 2–4, 1986, pp. 24–33.

    Google Scholar 

  13. Doyle P. G., Snell J. L., Random Walks and Electric Networks, Mathematical Association of America, Washington, D. C., 1984.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  14. Dudek G., Jenkin M., Milios E., Wilkes D., “Robotic Exploration as Graph Construction,” IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 7, No. 6, Dec. 1991.

    Google Scholar 

  15. Deng X., Mirzaian A., “Competitive Robot Mapping with Homogeneous Markers,” IEEE Trans. on Robotics and Automation, Vol. 12, No.4, Aug. 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  16. Erdmann M., “Randomization in robot tasks,” Int. J. Robot. Res., 11(5):399–436, October 1992. Hall P., Introduction to the Theory of Coverage Processes, John Wiley & Sons, New York, 1988

    Google Scholar 

  17. Hofner C., Schmidt G., “Path planning and guidance techniques for an autonomous mobile cleaning robot,” Robotics and Autonomous Systems (1995), 14:199–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  18. Hert S., Tiwari S., Lumelsky V., “A terrain covering algorithm for an AUV,” Auton. Robots, Vol.3, No.2–3 June–July 1996, pp. 91–119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. Kaplan W., Advanced Calculus, 3’rd Ed., Addison-Wesley, Reading, MA, 1984.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  20. Kuipers Byun Y. T., “A robot exploration and mapping strategy based on a semantic hierarchy of spatial representations,” Robotics and Autonomous Systems (1981), 8:47–63.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. Kershner R., “The number of circles covering a set,” Amer. J. Math. (1939), 61:665–671.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  22. LaValle S. M., Hutchinson S. A., “Evaluating Motion Strategies under Nondeterministic or Probabilistic Uncertainties in Sensing and Control,” Proc. of the 1996 IEEE Intl. Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 3034–3039.

    Google Scholar 

  23. Lovasz L., “Random Walks on Graphs-a Survey,” in: Combinatorics, Paul Erdös is Eighty, Part 2 Ed. D. Miklos, V. T. Sos, T. Szony, Janos Bolyai Mathmatical Society, Budapest, 1996, Vol. 2, pp. 353–398.

    Google Scholar 

  24. Matthews P., “Covering Problems for Brownian Motion On Spheres,” The Annals of Probability, 1988, Vol. 16, No. 1, pp. 189–199.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  25. Nash-Williams C. St. J. A., “Random walk and electric currents in networks,” Proc. Camb. Phil. Soc., 55:181–194, 1959.

    Article  MATH  MathSciNet  Google Scholar 

  26. Pach J. (Ed.), New Trends in Discrete and Computational Geometry, Springer-Verlag, Berlin Heidelberg 1993.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  27. Parker L. E., “On the design of behavior-based multi-robot teams,” Advanced Robotics, Vol. 10, No. 6, pp. 547–578 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Sagan H., Space-Filling Curves, Springer-Verlag, New York, 1994.

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  29. Wagner I. A., Bruckstein A. M., “Cooperative Cleaners-a Study in AntRobotics,” in A. Paulraj, V. Roychowdhury, C. D. Schaper-ed., Communications, Computation, Control, and Signal Processing: A Tribute to Thomas Kailath, Kluwer Academic Publishers, The Netherlands, 1997, pp. 289–308.

    Google Scholar 

  30. Wagner I. A., Lindenbaum M., Bruckstein A. M., “On-Line Graph Searching by a Smell-Oriented Vertex Process,” Working notes of AAAI’97 Workshop on On-Line Search, July 28, 1997, Providence, Rhode Island, pp. 122–125.

    Google Scholar 

  31. Wagner I. A., Lindenbaum M., Bruckstein A. M., “Smell as a Computational Resource-A Lesson We Can Learn from the Ant,” Proceedings of the 4’th Israeli Symposium on the Theory of Computing and Systems, Jerusalem, June 10–12, 1996.

    Google Scholar 

  32. Yaguchi H., “Robot introduction to cleaning work in the East Japan Railway Company,” Advanced Robotics, Vol. 10, no. 4, pp. 403–414 (1996).

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1998 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this paper

Cite this paper

Wagner, I.A., Lindenbaum, M., Bruckstein, A.M. (1998). Robotic Exploration, Brownian Motion and Electrical Resistance. In: Luby, M., Rolim, J.D.P., Serna, M. (eds) Randomization and Approximation Techniques in Computer Science. RANDOM 1998. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 1518. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-49543-6_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/3-540-49543-6_10

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-65142-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-49543-7

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics