Robust priority-aware coverage optimization for aerial sensor networks

Abstract

This article presents a priority-aware robust coverage optimization framework for an aerial sensor network under sensor location uncertainty. Each region is assigned a priority weight, and the objective is to maximize the weighted coverage while maintaining robustness against positional perturbations. A mathematical optimization model is developed by incorporating surveillance constraints and an RRF-based robustness formulation into the proposed framework. An efficient priority-aware robust orientation optimization (PAROO) algorithm is then proposed to determine the sensor orientations that maximize the weighted coverage objective. Experimental results on an airport-inspired surveillance scenario demonstrate that the proposed framework effectively directs sensing resources toward high-priority regions and achieves higher weighted coverage than representative baseline approaches, highlighting its practical applicability in security-sensitive environments.