Title: Discrete search allocation with object uncertainty

Authors: Thomas A. Wettergren; John G. Baylog

Addresses: Naval Undersea Warfare Center, 1176 Howell Street, Newport, RI 02841, USA ' Naval Undersea Warfare Center, 1176 Howell Street, Newport, RI 02841, USA

Abstract: We develop a new approach for assigning the optimal allocation of multiple searchers/sensors to a discrete set of search cells to find a hidden object. In contrast to existing formulations of the discrete search problem, we consider the situation in which the object is of uncertain type. Such formulations are practical for problems where a group of searchers is sent to look for an object of uncertain disposition, which is commonplace in search and rescue as well as many military search applications. We formulate a new mathematical model for this problem in which the object uncertainty is accounted for as an additive perturbation to the traditional Bayesian formulation of discrete search. This modelling approach is then proven to be amenable to optimisation with a greedy algorithm. Numerical examples illustrate the improved search performance gained from these improved allocations.

Keywords: search theory; discrete search; cooperative search; greedy algorithms; optimal allocation; asset allocation; search evaluation; distribution of effort; object type dependency; utility function; object uncertainty; modelling; optimisation; search and rescue; military search; mathematical modelling.

DOI: 10.1504/IJOR.2014.060513

International Journal of Operational Research, 2014 Vol.20 No.1, pp.1 - 20

Received: 28 Jul 2012
Accepted: 03 Nov 2012
Published online: 21 Jun 2014 *

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