Design and Implementation of a Mobile Wireless Network Testbed

by
David Johnson and Daniel Flickinger

Advised by
Jay Lepreau

As wireless devices become more pervasive in society, study of wireless protocols and RF effects assumes a new importance. However, the cost of obtaining the necessary hardware and assembling it into a cohesive unit often presents an insurmountable barrier to "real-world" experimentation.

We have designed and implemented a publicly-available mobile robotic network testbed for use by the research community. We allow experimenters to position wireless devices mounted on robots with high precision, which enables _repeatable_ study of interesting RF effects and new wireless protocols.

To achieve this goal, we have developed (1) a low-cost, high-precision vision system to localize robots, (2) path-planning and obstacle avoidance algorithms to safely move multiple robots to specified destinations, and (3) an interface to the Emulab network testbed software, which provides experimenters with convenient experiment setup and control.

We are currently able to position robots within 5-10 cm and 15 degrees of a requested position based on vision system localization. Robust path planning chooses a safe path through a field of known obstacles. Robots successfully avoid dynamic obstacles which move through the experimental area. The combination of these facilities permits convenient wireless experimentation in a fully dynamic way.