Studying the stochastic capturing of moving intruders by mobile sensors

Moving sensors can cover more area over a period of time than the same number of stationary sensors. However, the gains attained by a moving sensor (a single robot or radar) are not well understood. In this paper, we present a stochastic model analyzing the detection quality achieved by a single sensor moving along a certain track based on its velocity and mobility pattern. We also include a detection scenario using double robots together and study their detection quality. We consider the following type of intrusion events: intruders occur/arrive at random points at the edge of the field of interest and move directly to the center of the field of interest at a constant speed. In order to compare results, two detection scenarios are studied: the robot detection scenario and the radar detection scenario. In the robot detection scenario, the robot(s) is set to move periodically along a certain route at a constant speed. In the radar detection scenario, radar is rotated at a constant speed in a clockwise/counter-clockwise direction. An intrusion is said to be captured if it is sensed by the moving robot or radar before it arrives at the center of the field of interest. For both scenarios, we derive a general expression for intrusion loss probability and the expected time that it will take the robot(s) or radar to capture an intruder.