Mobile sensors' patrol path planning in unobservable border region

Abstract

PurposeThe border control becomes challenging when a protected region is large and there is a limited number of border patrols. This research paper proposes a novel heuristic-based patrol path planning scheme in order to efficiently patrol with resource scarcity.Design/methodology/approachThe trespasser influencing score, which is determined from the environmental characteristics and trespassing statistic of the region, is used as a heuristic for measuring a chance of approaching a trespasser. The patrol plan is occasionally updated with a new trespassing statistic during a border operation. The performance of the proposed patrol path planning scheme was evaluated and compared with other patrol path planning schemes by the empirical experiment under different scenarios.FindingsThe result from the experiment indicates that the proposed patrol planning outperforms other patrol path planning schemes in terms of the trespasser detection rate, when more environment-aware trespassers are in the region.Research limitations/implicationsThe experiment was conducted through simulated agents in simulated environment, which were assumed to mimic real behavior and environment.Originality/valueThis research paper contributes a heuristic-based patrol path planning scheme that applies the environmental characteristics and dynamic statistic of the region, as well as a border surveillance problem model that would be useful for mobile sensor planning in a border surveillance application.