Problems and challenges in robotic relay networks

LANdroids is a DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Program Agency) funded project. The goal is to create small, inexpensive, smart robotic relay nodes that autonomously establish and manage mesh networks when deployed in a scattered formation through an urban environment, securing a temporary communications network for the soldiers. PARC, together with Lockheed Martin Space Systems Center (prime) and CMU, is one of the five teams awarded for Phase I, and one of the two teams successfully entered Phase II of this project. In this talk, we present the domain of the problem, the challenges and our initial solutions, and discuss possible future directions for this research.