Gespeichert in:
Bibliographische Detailangaben
Hauptverfasser: Srivastava, Alkesh K., Kontoudis, George P., Sofge, Donald, Otte, Michael
Format: Preprint
Veröffentlicht: 2026
Schlagworte:
Online-Zugang:https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16673
Tags: Tag hinzufügen
Keine Tags, Fügen Sie den ersten Tag hinzu!
_version_ 1866916018050301952
author Srivastava, Alkesh K.
Kontoudis, George P.
Sofge, Donald
Otte, Michael
author_facet Srivastava, Alkesh K.
Kontoudis, George P.
Sofge, Donald
Otte, Michael
contents A "path-based sensor" produces a single observation along a continuous path. For example, a boolean path-based sensor returns a single "1" if an event of interest is detected at any point along the path and a "0" otherwise. Notably, a "1" provides no direct information about where along the path the event(s) may have occurred. Previous work has demonstrated that observations from multiple path-based sensors can be fused to create a Bayesian belief map over the spatial locations of the underlying event or phenomenon. Moreover, path planning can employ Shannon information theory to accelerate the rate of convergence of the belief map. In this paper, we present a new method to update the belief map based on a path-based sensor observation, and then plan paths to increase information gain. In contrast to prior work that approximates the posterior by averaging over the alternative event histories, we introduce a Bayesian Network (BN) formulation that models the probabilistic relationships between the latent variables and path-based sensor measurements, enabling a more principled Bayesian belief update. We consider static hazard detection in a communication-denied environment as a representative problem setting. The event of a robot returning from its path corresponds to a path-based hazard sensor reading of "0" (hazard not detected), while a robot failing to return corresponds to a reading of "1" (hazard detected). We consider false positives and false negatives. We find that the new method leads to quicker convergence of the belief map than prior work in both single- and multi-robot cases.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2605_16673
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Bayesian Networks for Path-Based Sensors: Gathering Information and Path Planning in Communication Denied Environments
Srivastava, Alkesh K.
Kontoudis, George P.
Sofge, Donald
Otte, Michael
Robotics
A "path-based sensor" produces a single observation along a continuous path. For example, a boolean path-based sensor returns a single "1" if an event of interest is detected at any point along the path and a "0" otherwise. Notably, a "1" provides no direct information about where along the path the event(s) may have occurred. Previous work has demonstrated that observations from multiple path-based sensors can be fused to create a Bayesian belief map over the spatial locations of the underlying event or phenomenon. Moreover, path planning can employ Shannon information theory to accelerate the rate of convergence of the belief map. In this paper, we present a new method to update the belief map based on a path-based sensor observation, and then plan paths to increase information gain. In contrast to prior work that approximates the posterior by averaging over the alternative event histories, we introduce a Bayesian Network (BN) formulation that models the probabilistic relationships between the latent variables and path-based sensor measurements, enabling a more principled Bayesian belief update. We consider static hazard detection in a communication-denied environment as a representative problem setting. The event of a robot returning from its path corresponds to a path-based hazard sensor reading of "0" (hazard not detected), while a robot failing to return corresponds to a reading of "1" (hazard detected). We consider false positives and false negatives. We find that the new method leads to quicker convergence of the belief map than prior work in both single- and multi-robot cases.
title Bayesian Networks for Path-Based Sensors: Gathering Information and Path Planning in Communication Denied Environments
topic Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2605.16673