On connectivity of reconfigurable impact networks in ageless aerospace vehicles

The research results presented in this paper were obtained as part of the joint CSIRO-NASA Ageless Aerospace Vehicle (AAV) project. We describe the underlying principles, methodology, and preliminary results of modelling and simulating a multi-cellular sensor and communication network in a dynamic decentralised setting, motivated by a self-monitoring, self-repairing AAV. Such networks are expected to detect and react to multiple impacts and damage over a wide range of impact energies. In particular, we address the problem of forming a reconfigurable network (a minimum spanning tree) connecting cells that detected non-critical impacts, in presence of connectivity disruptions caused by critical impacts. The presented algorithm is based on the ant colony metaphor and may be complemented by gradient-based techniques. In addition, we measure the robustness of impact networks a o ©