{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2025,10,12]],"date-time":"2025-10-12T04:39:04Z","timestamp":1760243944377,"version":"build-2065373602"},"reference-count":17,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"3","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2010,3,1]],"date-time":"2010-03-01T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1267401600000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/3.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Sensors"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Recent advances in sensor technology have enabled the fast development of mobile sensor networks operating in various unknown and sometimes hazardous environments. In this paper, we introduce one integrative approach to design, analyze and test distributed control algorithms to coordinate a network of autonomous mobile sensors by utilizing both simulation tools and a robotic testbed. The research has been carried out in the context of the mobile sensing project, PicoSmart, in the northern provinces of the Netherlands for the inspection of natural gas pipelines.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/s100301599","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2010,3,1]],"date-time":"2010-03-01T11:29:23Z","timestamp":1267442963000},"page":"1599-1618","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Mobile Sensor Networks for Inspection Tasks in Harsh Industrial Environments"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"10","author":[{"given":"Jacob","family":"Mulder","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Logica, Eemsgolaan 1, P.O. box 70237, 9704 AE Groningen, The Netherlands"}]},{"given":"Xinyu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Technology, Engineering & Management, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands"}]},{"given":"Franke","family":"Ferwerda","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Technology, Engineering & Management, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands"}]},{"given":"Ming","family":"Cao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute for Technology, Engineering & Management, Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences, University of Groningen, Nijenborgh 4, 9747 AG Groningen, The Netherlands"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2010,3,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1247","DOI":"10.1109\/JPROC.2003.814918","article-title":"Sensor networks: Evolution, opportunities, and challenges","volume":"91","author":"Chong","year":"2003","journal-title":"Proc. IEEE"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"48","DOI":"10.1109\/JPROC.2006.887295","article-title":"Collective motion, sensor networks and ocean sampling","volume":"95","author":"Leonard","year":"2007","journal-title":"Proc. IEEE"},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1109\/MRA.2008.931633","article-title":"Multirobot inspection of industrial machinery","volume":"15","author":"Correll","year":"2009","journal-title":"IEEE Robot. Automat"},{"unstructured":"PicoSmart stands for \u201cPipeline Inspecting COllaborative Swarms for Maintenance and Repair Tasks\u201d. Partners of the PicoSmart project include educational institutes such as the University of Groningen and the Hanze University for Applied Sciences, research institutes such as TNO and the Sun Center of Excellence for Intelligent Sensor Innovation (CENSI), and commercial companies such as Logica, Kema and Kiwa Gastec.","key":"ref_4"},{"unstructured":"Cao, M. (2007). Multi-Agent Formation and Sensor Networks, Yale University. PhD Dissertation,.","key":"ref_5"},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"837","DOI":"10.1109\/TRA.2002.803458","article-title":"A general algorithm for robot formations using local sensing and minimal communication","volume":"18","author":"Fredslund","year":"2002","journal-title":"IEEE Trans. Robot. Automat"},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1419","DOI":"10.1016\/j.pss.2005.07.013","article-title":"Next-generation robotic planetary reconnaissance missions: A paradigm shift","volume":"53","author":"Fink","year":"2005","journal-title":"Planet Space Sci"},{"key":"ref_8","first-page":"1","article-title":"Tier-scalable reconnaissance missions for the autonomous exploration of planetary bodies","volume":"3\u201310","author":"Fink","year":"2007","journal-title":"IEEE Aerosp. Conf."},{"unstructured":"Throughout the paper, we use the two terms, mobile sensor and autonomous robot, interchangeably because in the paper they both refer to the moving sensing platform in the gas pipeline network inspection tasks. Notice that generally speaking, the latter usually has a broader meaning than the former, and in certain applications, the two may refer to different equipments.","key":"ref_9"},{"unstructured":"Mulder, W., and Jacobs, C. (, January June). Grid Management Support by means of Collaborative Learning Agents. Barcelona, Spain.","key":"ref_10"},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"137","DOI":"10.1023\/A:1008867321648","article-title":"Group behaviors for systems with significant dynamics","volume":"4","author":"Brogan","year":"1997","journal-title":"Auton. Robots"},{"unstructured":"Booch, G. (2007). Object Oriented Analysis and Design with Applications, Addison-Wesley. 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