Striving for sensing: Taming your mobile code to share a robot sensor network

This article presents a general purpose, multi-application mobile node sensor network based on mobile code. This intelligent system can work in delay and disruption tolerant (DTN) scenarios. Mobile nodes host software mobile code with task missions and act as DTN routers following the store-carry-and-forward paradigm. Most similar proposals are unable to simultaneously run different applications, with different routing algorithms, movement models, and information retrieval strategies. The keystone of the approach in this paper is using mobile code at two levels: for the application, and for the definition of the behavior in terms of routing algorithms, movement policies and sensor retrieval preferences. The intelligence of the system lies in its ability to adapt to the environment, dynamically optimizing routing algorithms using local and global information and influencing node movement. Simulations and an implementation of a real scenario have been undertaken to prove the feasibility and usability of the system, and to study its performance. A proposal for a real-world application in the context of refugee camp management is presented. © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.