Distributed online patrolling with multi-agent teams of sentinels and searchers

We consider the problem of patrolling an assigned area using a team of heterogeneous robots consisting of sentinels and searchers in the presence of stochastic arrivals of attacks. Sentinels and searchers operate using a different sensor model featuring a tradeoff between accuracy and the sensed area. Using an approach based on queuing theory, we derive an accurate analytic characterization of the patrolling performance that can be used to predict the behavior of a given configuration or inform the composition of a team in order to meet a desired target performance. Extensive simulation results corroborate our theoretical findings.