A Networked Robotic System and its Use in an Oil Spill Monitoring Exercise

We have contributed with a bridging model, akin to the von Neumann model, to the cyberphysical systems literature [1]. This past contribution, named the BigActor model, is only a mathematical model. Here we describe a software system built to explore the value of the mathematics when integrating and controlling a network of robots sensing an environment. Figure 1(b) describes the “physical” components of the system as well as their relative location and connectivity. This particular robot network executes an oil spill monitoring exercise. There is one UAV, 3 ground control stations, 4 drifters that broadcast their position using Automatic Identification System (AIS), and one ship in the system. These are denoted as labeled boxes in Figure 1(b). Figure 1(a) shows the same information but in the physical space, i.e. the GPS coordinates of the vehicles.