Communication-Restricted Exploration for Robot Teams

In the event of an earthquake or fire, search and rescue efforts may be delayed until it is safe for the human rescue team to enter the area.  A team of robots could enter in advance to  provide maps, images and locations of interest to the human team, allowing them to prepare their approach when they can enter.  In a disaster area, communication may be limited, either due to infrastructure being down, or because of environmental interference. We propose an algorithm that makes use of a small number of robots, which spread as far as their communication allows, but which otherwise stay together while they explore the unknown environment.  We show that the algorithm will allow the team of robots to fully explore the environment and maintain communication in order to return the information to the waiting search and rescue team.  We also show that this can be achieved with multiple methods of communication.