applied
sciences
Article
Behavior Composition for Marine Pollution Source Localization
Using a Mobile Sensor Network
Mengli Cao *, Haofan Bie and Xiong Hu
Citation: Cao, M.; Bie, H.; Hu, X.
Behavior Composition for Marine
Pollution Source Localization Using a
Mobile Sensor Network. Appl. Sci.
2022, 12, 5767. https://doi.org/
10.3390/app12125767
Academic Editor: Subhas
Mukhopadhyay
Received: 5 May 2022
Accepted: 2 June 2022
Published: 7 June 2022
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Copyright: © 2022 by the authors.
Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.
This article is an open access article
distributed under the terms and
conditions of the Creative Commons
Attribution (CC BY) license (https://
creativecommons.org/licenses/by/
4.0/).
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767. https://doi.org/10.3390/app12125767
Logistic Engineering College, Shanghai Maritime University; Shanghai 201306, China;
202130210227@stu.shmtu.edu.cn (H.B.); huxiong@shmtu.edu.cn (X.H.)
* Correspondence: mlcao@shmtu.edu.cn
Abstract: Marine pollution, which can cause damage to marine ecosystems, cut fishery production,
and even harm human health, has aroused worldwide interest in recent years. Marine pollution
reduction operations can stagnate in the case that the source of the pollution is unknown or hidden.
In this paper, we present a novel method for marine pollution source localization using a network
of mobile sensor nodes, such as autonomous underwater vehicles equipped with chemical sensors.
Traditional reactive control methods can respond quickly to the shape dynamics of a chemical
plume; however, they can hardly achieve intelligent cooperation unlike deliberative methods. In
this study, we present a behavior composition method that attempts to combine the advantages of
reactive and deliberative methods. An upwind-customized crossover operation based on the genetic
algorithm was formulated as one of the elementary behaviors. The upwind sprint and movement
away from the centroid of the sensor nodes were also modeled as another two elementary behaviors.
Different sensor nodes are capable of different simultaneous elementary behaviors, enabling behavior
composition in the mobile sensor network during plume source localization. The proposed method
was evaluated using a widely used filamentous plume simulation platform, which has been used to
facilitate field experiments in real marine environments. Simulation results indicate that the proposed
method achieved high time-efficiency and localization accuracy during plume source localization in
marine environments.
Keywords: marine pollution; pollution source localization; behavior composition
1. Introduction
As the worldwide industries develop rapidly, marine pollution is becoming increas-
ingly serious [1]. Marine pollution can cause heavy damage to marine ecosystems, reduce
the production of culture fisheries, and harm human health. One of the most common
sources of marine pollution is the chemical sewage discharged by factories and ships into
seas and oceans. Locating the sources of chemical contaminants is critical to reducing
chemical pollution in marine environments, in which the transport of chemical materials is
dominated by turbulences with a high Reynolds number [2]. The continuously released
chemical materials in marine environments form meandering plumes with intermittent or
patchy chemical distributions [3,4], which poses difficulties for static sensor nodes to detect
the chemical pollution in a “wait-and-measure” manner. Furthermore, a network of static
chemical sensing platforms/nodes, which is typically used for locating a chemical source
in environments with low Reynolds numbers [5,6] or a fixed transportation network [7],
cannot sense chemicals transported outside its limited coverage area. In contrast, mobile
chemical sensing nodes [3,8–11], which are equipped with flow-velocity and chemical
sensors, can theoretically cover an indefinitely large area if the power supply is guaranteed.
This makes mobile sensing nodes more flexible and particularly suitable for locating chemi-
cal plume sources in large-scale marine environments. Moreover, multiple mobile sensor
nodes (SNs) have higher robustness, stronger spatial sampling ability, and lower cost than
https://www.mdpi.com/journal/applsci
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 2 of 14

a single mobile sensing robot/node, owing to the faculty of cooperation among multiple
nodes [12]. Thus, the problem of locating a continuous chemical pollution source in marine
environments though cooperation among a network of mobile sensor nodes is the focus in
this paper.
To realize cooperation, a mobile sensor network (MSN) is defined as a wireless com-
munication network that provides the infrastructure for sharing information among the
SNs, with a designed cooperation scheme to control them. Existing methods for solv-
ing the chemical plume source localization (CPSL) problem using multiple SNs can be
tentatively classified into deliberative and behavior-based methods. Deliberative meth-
ods, which select the best action by inferring, based on an implicit or explicit internal
world representation [13], dominate existing multi-SN-based CPSL methods. Some recent
typical deliberative and quasi-deliberative multi-SN-based CPSL methods are as follows.
Hadi et al. [2] proposed an information theoretic search strategy in which a particle filter
representation of the posterior source location belief distribution was employed to de-
termine the robot’s actions. They also proposed a multi-agent collaborative “infotaxis”
strategy [14], in which the rate of detecting the presence of a material plume is modeled as
Poisson’s distribution. Yan et al. [15] proposed a modified convergence-guaranteed particle
swarm optimizer method, in which the memorized particle optima, global optimum, and
optimal group can be considered as a customized representation of the plume environment.
Zhu [16] proposed a modified artificial potential field method that controls the robots to
track the chemical plume based on the constructed source distribution probability model.
Compared with pure reactive methods, which tightly couple sensory inputs and
effector outputs, deliberative methods are less sensitive to environmental dynamics [13].
However, pure reactive methods can stagnate in the absence of sensory inputs, which
means they lack intelligence based on world representation. Behavior-based systems are
best suited for dynamically changing environments, where a fast response and adaptivity,
as well as the reasoning ability, are required [13]. In behavior-based methods, different SNs
can simultaneously perform different and frequently switched elementary actions, enabling
behavior composition [17] in the MSN. In the domain of multi-SN-based CPSL, the spiral-
surge (SS) method proposed by Hayes et al. [18] is a typical behavior-composition method.
On the one hand, SS controls the SN currently detecting above-threshold concentrations
to move upwind. This is a typical reactive control method because the upwind sprint is
directly activated when an odor-detection event occurs. On the other hand, SS employs a
deterministic outward spiral movement to steer the SNs when the MSN does not detect any
valid concentration information. Moreover, SS uses simple explicit binary communication
signals to enable cooperation among the SNs [18]. By combining reactive behavior (i.e.,
upwind sprint), deterministic spiraling movement, and simple binary communication,
the SS method achieves remarkable efficiency in cooperative chemical source localization.
However, combining reactive behaviors and intelligent deliberative methods in cooperative
CPSL processes requires further investigation.
In this paper, we proposed an upwind-adapted genetic algorithm (uGA) that combines
the upwind-adapted crossover operator based on the genetic algorithm (GA) [19,20] and the
reactive upwind sprint. The GA is an intelligent optimization algorithm that is traditionally
used to search for the global maximum of a fitness function. Empirically, there are some
lasting but wandering concentration maxima near the chemical-release source. By searching
for the concentration maxima, the GA and other optimization algorithms can be used
to solve the CPSL problem. However, unlike the direct calculation of fitness values in
numerical optimizations, SNs equipped with common chemical sensors should arrive at
an objective location to detect the concentration. It is difficult for SNs to obtain essential
concentration detection owing to the intermittent and dynamic distribution of chemicals.
Moreover, some local concentration maxima exist at significant distances from the plume
source [3]. Thus, solving the CPSL problem is not straightforward.
To overcome these difficulties, the uGA attempts to combine the advantages of reactive
upwind sprints and an upwind-customized crossover operation based on the GA as follows.
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Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 3 of 14

To overcome these difficulties, the uGA attempts to combine the advantages of reac-
tive upwind sprints and an upwind-customized crossover operation based on the GA as
follows.
First, First, a customized
a customized crossovercrossover
operator operator
is modeled is modeled as the elementary
as the elementary C-behavior.
C-behavior. The
The crossover operator in the GA is customized by restricting the
crossover operator in the GA is customized by restricting the newly generated chromosome newly generated chro-
mosome to the upwind search area of the chromosome centroid.
to the upwind search area of the chromosome centroid. Second, for an individual SN, Second, for an individual
SN,
the the upwind
upwind sprintsprint
and aand a deterministic
deterministic departure
departure from fromthe SN thecentroid
SN centroid are modeled
are modeled as
as elementary
elementary U-behavior
U-behavior and and D-behavior,
D-behavior, respectively.
respectively. Third,Third,
withwith respect
respect to theto different
the differ-
ent situations
situations in theinCPSLthe CPSL process,
process, the the three
three elementary
elementary behaviors
behaviors areare combined
combined toto form
form
two combinational behaviors. The most commonly used filamentous
two combinational behaviors. The most commonly used filamentous plume simulation plume simulation
platform(FPSP)
platform (FPSP)[9], [9],which
whichwas wasproposed
proposedtotoassist
assistfield
fieldexperiments
experimentsby byFarrell
Farrelletetal.al.[21],
[21],
was employed here to compare the performance of the proposed uGA method and the SSSS
was employed here to compare the performance of the proposed uGA method and the
method.ItItisisexpected
method. expectedthat thatusing
usinguGAuGAininthe
theMSN-based
MSN-basedCPSL CPSLproblem
problemcan canimprove
improvethe the
time-efficiency
time-efficiency of of
thethe
CPSLCPSL process,
process, which
which is significant
is significant for reducing
for reducing the caused
the loss loss caused
by theby
the targeted
targeted pollution.
pollution.
The
The remainder
remainder of of
thisthis paper
paper is organized
is organized as follows.
as follows. Section
Section 2 presents
2 presents the details
the details of theof
the proposed
proposed uGA method.
uGA method. The simulation
The simulation setup andsetup and are
results results are presented
presented in Sections in 3Section
and 4, 3
respectively.
and SectionThe conclusions The
4, respectively. are presented
conclusions in are
Section 5.
presented in Section 5.

2.2.Combining
CombiningUpwind
UpwindSprint
Sprintand
andGAGAfor CPSL
for CPSL
2.1. Original GA
2.1. Original GA
To reveal the adaptations made on the GA, the original form of GA is introduced
To reveal the adaptations made on the GA, the original form of GA is introduced
first. Algorithm 1 shows the pseudocodes of GA. As a population-based algorithm, the
first. Algorithm 1 shows the pseudocodes of GA. As a population-based algorithm, the
population of GA comprises m individuals, which are encoded into strings of binary
population of GA comprises m individuals, which are encoded into strings of binary num-
numbers. In other words, the size of the GA population is denoted as m, i.e., GA maintains
bers. In other words, the size of the GA population is denoted as m, i.e., GA maintains a
a population of m chromosomes [19]. At the initialization stage, the m chromosomes are
population of m chromosomes [19]. At the initialization stage, the m chromosomes are
randomly generated in the whole search space. For traditional function optimization
randomly generated in the whole search space. For traditional function optimization
problems, the search space is defined by the argument domains of the fitness function.
problems, the search space is defined by the argument domains of the fitness function.
Algorithm 1. Original GA [20].
1t=0
2 Initialize the chromosome population (P0);
3 Evaluate P0;
4 while termination criterion is not satisfied do
5 selection, crossover, and mutation to form Qt;
6 evaluate Qt;
7 replacement of (Pt, Qt) to form Pt+1;
8 t = t+1;
9 end

After initialization, all solutions are evaluated by substituting them into the fitness
function
After and calculatingallthe
initialization, corresponding
solutions fitness values.
are evaluated The GA then
by substituting thementers an iterative
into the fitness
loop, inand
function which every iterative
calculating cycle has three
the corresponding typical
fitness values. operators:
The GA selection,
then enters crossover,
an iterativeand
mutation.
loop, in whichForevery
the crossover
iterative operators, the selection
cycle has three operator selects
typical operators: m × crossover,
selection, pc chromosomesand
by following
mutation. a fitness-based
For the roulette-wheel
crossover operators, selection
the selection rule. selects
operator m × pc chromosomes
Chromosomes corresponding
bytofollowing
larger fitness values during
a fitness-based the selection
roulette-wheel process
selection rule.areChromosomes
more likely to be selected than
corresponding to
larger
thosefitness values during
with smaller fitness the selection
values. process are
To depreciate themore likely to bewith
chromosomes selected
smallthan those
fitness-val-
with
ues,smaller
a novelfitness
fitnessvalues.
functionTowas depreciate
proposed theforchromosomes with smallproblems
function minimization fitness-values,
by Xinaet
novel fitness
al. [22], function was proposed for function minimization problems by Xin et al. [22],
as follows:
as follows:  𝑦−𝑏
 − 0.5y−b| , when
1 −10.5 | , when|y −|𝑦b−
|<𝑏| a< 𝑎
a 𝑎
Fit(yFit(𝑦)
)= = 1 1
 , otherwise
, , (1)(1)
y−b 2 , otherwise
 
 1+ 2
a 𝑦−𝑏
1 + (| 𝑎 |)
{
in which y is the objective function; b is the minimum objective value at the t-th cycle; and
in which y is the objective function; b is
the minimum objective value at the t-th cycle; and
|b − maxy|

a = max 0.5, (2)
20
 Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 14
i. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 4 of 14

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 |𝑏 − max𝑦| 4 of 14

𝑎|𝑏=−max
max𝑦|0.5, (2)
𝑎 = max 0.5, 20 (2)
20
Four typical crossover operators [23] are illustrated in Figure 1, in which alleles in
Four typical crossover operators
Four typical [23]operators
crossover are illustrated
[23] areinillustrated
Figure 1, in
inFigure
which1,alleles in alleles in bold
in which
bold squares are changed in the operators. In the uniform crossover, all the alleles are
bold squares are changed
squares in the operators.
are changed In the uniform
in the operators. crossover,
In the uniform all theall
crossover, alleles are are switched
the alleles
switched at the same probability of 0.5. After the crossover operation, the mutation oper-
switched at theatsame
the same probability
probability of 0.5.of 0.5. the
After After the crossover
crossover operation,
operation, the mutation
the mutation oper- operation is
ation is conducted on the new chromosome. As shown in Figure 1d, one of the alleles in
conducted
ation is conducted on the on
newthechromosome.
new chromosome.As shown As shown
in Figurein Figure
1d, one1d,of one
the of the alleles
alleles in in the new
the new chromosome is inverted at a probability of pm [23].
chromosome
the new chromosome is inverted
is inverted at a probability
at a probability of pm [23].
of pm [23].
1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 11 00 11 01 01 1 1 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1 0 1 0 0 1 1 0 1 1 1

1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
1 0 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 1 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 1 1 1
1 0 0 0 0 1 1 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 11 01 01 0 0 0 11 1 1 0 1
0 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 0 1 0 1 1 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 1 1 1 0 1
(a) (b) (c) (d)
(a) (b) (c) (d)
Figure 1. Typical crossover and mutation operators in the GA. Changed alleles are indicated using
Figure 1. TypicalFigure 1. Typicalmutation
crossover crossover and mutation operators in the GA. Changed alleles are indicated using
bold squares.and
(a) One-pointoperators
crossover;in(b)
thetwo-point
GA. Changed alleles
crossover; are
(c) indicated
uniform using
crossover; (d) mutation.
bold squares. (a)bold squares.
One-point (a) One-point
crossover; crossover;
(b) two-point (b) two-point
crossover; crossover;
(c) uniform (c) uniform
crossover; crossover; (d) mutation.
(d) mutation.
After crossover
crossoverand mutation, the
thefitness values
valuesofofnewnewchromosomes are evaluated
After crossoverAfter
and mutation, and mutation,
the fitness values fitness
of new chromosomes chromosomes
are evaluated are evaluated
by decoding
bysubstitutingand
decoding and substituting
substituting them into
them into the fitness
the fitness function. If the fitness value
valueofofthe
thenew
by decoding and them into the fitness function. If thefunction.
fitness value If the
offitness
the new new
chromosome
chromosome is
ishigher
higher than
than that
that of
ofthe
theold
old chromosome,
chromosome, it is
it isinserted
inserted into
into the
thepopulation
population
chromosome is higher than that of the old chromosome, it is inserted into the population
and
and replaced by the old
oldone.
one.The termination criterion isisverified atateach
eachiteration loop.
loop.IfIf
and replaced by thereplaced
old one.by Thethetermination The termination
criterion criterion
is verified at each verified
iteration loop. iteration
If
the termination criterion is not satisfied, the iterative loop is repeated. Typically, when
whent t
the terminationthe termination
criterion is notcriterion
satisfied,isthe
notiterative
satisfied, theisiterative
loop repeated. loop is repeated.
Typically, whenTypically,
t
exceeds aapredefined
exceedsmaximum
predefined maximum
maximum cycle number, GA
GAisisterminated.
exceeds a predefined cycle number, cycle
GA isnumber,
terminated. terminated.

2.2.
2.2.Adapting
AdaptingGA GAfor
forCPSL
CPSL
2.2. Adapting GA for CPSL
The
Thestructure
structureand
andpseudocodes
pseudocodes ofof
thethe
uGA
uGA method
methodareare
shown
shownin Figure 2 and
in Figure Algo-
2 and Al-
The structure and pseudocodes of the uGA method are shown in Figure 2 and Algo-
rithm
gorithm2, respectively. In Figure
2, respectively. 2, two
In Figure compositional
2, two behaviors
compositional are exhibited
behaviors in theintop
are exhibited the
rithm 2, respectively. In Figure 2, two compositional behaviors are exhibited in the top
top layer:
layer: plumeplume finding
finding and pollution
and pollution sourcesource searching.
searching. The compositional
The compositional behaviors
behaviors com-
layer: plume finding and pollution source searching. The compositional behaviors com-
comprise
prise elementary
elementary behaviors
behaviors in theinmiddle
the middle
layer,layer, namely
namely D-behavior,
D-behavior, U-behavior,
U-behavior, and and
C-
prise elementary behaviorswhich
C-behavior, in thecorrespond
middle layer,
withnamely
the D-behavior,
three cases in U-behavior,
Algorithm 2. and C-
behavior, which correspond with the three cases in Algorithm 2.
behavior, which correspond with the three cases in Algorithm 2.

Plume Finding Plume Source

Plume Finding Behavior Plume Source
Searching Behavior
Behavior Searching Behavior

D U C
.D . U. C . . . D U C
D U C 1#
D U C D U C
2# n#
1# 2# n#

Interaction and cooperation through the GA population

Interaction and cooperation through the GA population

D-behavior : departing from the centroid along axial direction

D-behavior : departing
U-behavior from the centroid
: moving alongalong axial
upwind direction
direction
U-behavior : moving along upwind direction
C-behavior : moving towards newly generated chromosome
C-behavior : moving towards newly composition
: behavior generated chromosome
link
: behavior composition link
: population update link
: population update link
: goal-position generation link
: goal-position generation link
Structureofofthe
Figure2.2.Structure
Figure theuGA
uGAmethod.
method.
Figure 2. Structure of the uGA method.
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 5 of 14

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 5 of 14

Algorithm 2 uGA.
1t=0
2 while source declaration criterion is not satisfied do
3 Behavior selection/de-composition;
4 for each of the mobile sensor nodes
5 switch the individual behavior
6 case D-behavior:
7 departing from the SN centroid along axial directions with equal angle-span;
8 break;
9 case U-behavior:
10 if the plume is detected for the first time
11 initialize the population;
12 else
13 replace the oldest chromosome;
14 end
15 move along the upwind direction;
16 break;
17 case C-behavior:
18 generate a new chromosome via customized-crossover and mutation;
19 detecting while moving to the new chromosome;
20 break;
21 end
22 end
23 t = t + 1;
24 end

2.2.1.Behavior
2.2.1. BehaviorSelection
Selection Scheme
Scheme
AsAsdepicted
depictedininFigure Figure2,2,the
the plume-finding
plume-finding behavior
behavior comprises
comprises the theD-behaviors
D-behaviorsofofall
allSNs,
SNs,whereas
whereas thethe pollution
pollutionsource
sourcesearching
searchingbehavior
behavior comprises
comprises U-behaviors
U-behaviorsand and
C-be-
haviors. In other
C-behaviors. In other words, all SNs
words, conduct
all SNs thethe
conduct D-behavior
D-behavior when
whenthethe
plume-finding/re-find-
plume-finding/re-
ing behavior
finding behaviorisisactivated,
activated,whereas
whereasU-behavior
U-behavior and C-behavior
C-behaviorare arecandidate
candidateelementary
elementary
behaviors
behaviors forforthethe SNs
SNs when
when pollution
pollution source
source searching
searching behavior
behavior is is activated.
activated.
ForFor behavior
behavior selection,
selection, twotwo time-cycle
time-cycle thresholds
thresholds areare defined:
defined: lldlld i (where
i (where i =i 1,
= 1,
2, 2,
. . …,
.
n)and
, n) andgld.
gld.lldlldi iisisthe
thetime-cycle
time-cycleduration
durationsince
sincethe thei-thi-thSNSNobtained
obtainedanan above-threshold
above-threshold
concentrationmeasurement
concentration measurementuntil untilthethe present.gld
present. gld
isisthe
thetime-cycle
time-cycleduration
durationsince
sincethethe last
last
above-threshold
above-threshold concentration
concentration measurement
measurement of of
thetheMSN MSN until
until thethe present.
present. Thus,
Thus, the
the value
value
ofofgldgld
can
canbebecalculated
calculated asas
gld = min lldi . (3)
𝑔𝑙𝑑 i∈[
=1,nmin
] 𝑙𝑙𝑑𝑖 . (3)
𝑖∈[1,𝑛]
Moreover,
Moreover, thlth
, th a , aand
l, th , andthth
f are three predefined time-cycle thresholds that satisfy th <
f are three predefined time-cycle thresholds that satisfy lthl <
thth
a< th f , where th l is a small number. lld < th means the i-th SNs are still moving inside
a < thf, where thl is a small number. lldii < thll means the i-th SNs are still moving inside of
ofthe
theplume
plume profile.
profile. At At thethe k-th
k-th cycle time,the
cycle time, theactivated
activatedcompositional
compositionalbehavior
behaviorand
andthe
the
elementary behavior activated for the i-th SNs are denoted as B and bi , respectively. The
elementary behavior activated for the i-th SNs are denoted as B and 𝑏𝑖 , respectively. The
behavior selection scheme of the uGA, which corresponds with line 3 in Algorithm 2, can
behavior selection scheme of the uGA, which corresponds with line 3 in Algorithm 2, can
be represented as follows.
be represented as follows.

PlumePlume Finding ≤𝑎 gld
Finding if thifa𝑡ℎ ≤ 𝑔𝑙𝑑
< th<f 𝑡ℎ or plume
or𝑓 plume notnot detected
detected
B =𝐵 = { (4)(4)
SourceSource Searching
Searching if gld < th
if 𝑔𝑙𝑑 <a 𝑡ℎ𝑎
 D-behavior if 𝑡ℎ𝑎 ≤ 𝑔𝑙𝑑 < 𝑡ℎ𝑓 or plume not detected
D − behavior if th a ≤ gld < th f or plume not detected
𝑏 = {
bi = 𝑖 U −U-behavior if if
gld𝑔𝑙𝑑
<<thl𝑡ℎand lld𝑙𝑙𝑑
𝑙 and 𝑖 < 𝑡ℎ𝑙 (5)(5)
behavior i < thl
C −C-behavior
behavior if 𝑔𝑙𝑑
if gldh<
th𝑡ℎ thl𝑡ℎ
𝑎 and
a and 𝑙 > 𝑙𝑙𝑑𝑖
illd

i
According to Equations (4) and (5), the circumstance
According to Equations (4) and (5), the circumstance of the MSN of the MSNis is classified
classified asas
gldgld
<<
th l, thl < gld < tha, and tha ≤ gld < thm and gld equals thm:
th , th < gld < tha , and tha ≤ gld < thm and gld equals thm :
l l
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 6 of 14

(1) gld < thl : At least one SN is currently keeping in contact with the plume. In this
circumstance, as a cooperation mechanism, the newly detected plume information
can be exploited by the SNs.
(2) thl < gld < tha : All n SNs have lost contact with the plume. However, the previously
detected information is still time-efficient and can be exploited to recontact the plume.
(3) tha ≤ gld < thm : All n SNs have lost contact with the plume for a long time. It is
necessary to explore the uncovered search space for recontacting the plume.
(4) gld equals thm : The CPSL process is considered as failed.

2.2.2. Elementary Behaviors

Aiming at the above-mentioned circumstance of the MSN, elementary behaviors
are designed for individual SNs. Different SNs can simultaneously perform different
elementary behaviors.
1. D-behavior: The SN moves away from the centroid of the MSN with the perspective
of exploring the uncovered space. In the D-behavior, the goal position of the i-th SN
with coordinates {xgi , ygi } is
  
 x gi = xc + 104 ∗ cos πi
 n  , i = 1, 2, . . . , n, (6)
 y gi = xc + 104 ∗ sin πi
n

where xc and yc are the x- and y-coordinates of the MSN centroid, respectively, and n
is the number of SNs in the MSN. The goal positions in Equation (6) can guide the
SNs to move along radial directions with equal angle-spans.
2. U-behavior: The SN moves in the opposite direction to that of the detected fluid-flow
to search in the upwind area. The upwind movement direction angle can be denoted
as θ i = π + βi , where βi is the flow direction angle detected by the i-th SN.
3. C-behavior: The SN moves toward the new candidate chromosome generated by the
GA to evaluate it. Once the C-behavior is performed, a new chromosome is generated
by conducting crossover operation on the GA population.
As underlined in Algorithm 2, the GA-correlated operations in uGA include initial-
ization, population update, candidate chromosome generation and evaluation, and the
termination criterion.
1. Initialization (line 8 in Algorithm 2).
When the MSN encounters the first contact with the chemical plume, m new chromo-
somes are randomly initialized in the neighborhood of the position of the first contact. The
concentration measured at the first contact is substituted into Equation (7) to calculate the
objective value of the initial chromosomes.

1
y= (7)
z
in which y and z are the objective value and detected concentration, respectively.
2. Population update (line 10 in Algorithm 2).
If the SNs detect a new above-threshold concentration in the upwind area of the
population centroid, the detection position is encoded to a new chromosome and then
inserted into the population. To maintain a fixed population size, which is denoted as
m, the oldest chromosome in the population is discarded after the new chromosome is
inserted. In other words, the oldest chromosome is replaced by the newest chromosome
and the population is updated in a first-in-first-out manner.
3. Candidate chromosome generation (line 15 in Algorithm 2).
Once C-behavior is activated, only one candidate chromosome is generated by a
crossover between the two selected chromosomes. The predefined parameters pc of GA
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 7 of 14
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 7 of 14

not used in uGA. To select chromosomes for the subsequent crossover operator, fitness-
based
is roulette
not used wheel
in uGA. Toselection is conductedfor
select chromosomes based on the fitness
the subsequent functionoperator,
crossover in Equation (1).
fitness-
The fitness
based roulettevalue is calculated
wheel selection by substituting
is conducted the result
based on theoffitness
Equation (7) into
function in Equation (1),
(1).
which
The was value
fitness originally used forby
is calculated function minimization.
substituting the resultThus, the chromosome
of Equation correlated
(7) into Equation (1),
with high
which was concentration
originally usedmeasurements is more likely
for function minimization. to be
Thus, theselected in the correlated
chromosome roulette wheel
with
selection.
high concentration measurements is more likely to be selected in the roulette wheel selection.
As illustrated
As illustrated in Figure 3, an additional condition is set up to filter the new chromo-
some.
some. The additional
additional condition
condition is is that
that newly
newly generated
generated chromosomes
chromosomes must must bebe located
located in
in
the
the upwind
upwind search
search area
area ofof the
the MSN
MSN centroid.
centroid. IfIf the
the condition
condition is is not
not satisfied,
satisfied, the
the selection
selection
and
and crossover
crossover processes
processes should
should be be repeated.
repeated. The improved crossover is called upwind-
customized
customized crossover.
crossover. For
For example,
example, since
since position
position BB lies
lies in
in the
the subarea
subarea onon the
the downwind
downwind
side
side of
ofthe
theMSNMSN centroid,
centroid, thethe
generated
generatedchromosome
chromosome at B should be discarded.
at B should If the newly
be discarded. If the
generated candidate chromosome falls inside the subarea on the
newly generated candidate chromosome falls inside the subarea on the upwind side ofupwind side of the sensor
node centroid,
the sensor nodesuch as position
centroid, such asA,position
it will be
A, retained
it will be as the new
retained as candidate chromosome
the new candidate chro-
for furtherfor
mosome evaluation. After the upwind-customized
further evaluation. After the upwind-customizedcrossover crossover
operation,operation,
the mutation the
operation is conducted
mutation operation on the newonchromosome.
is conducted the new chromosome.

Discarded
Candidate candidate chromosome
chromosome
A B

chromosomes

mobile
sensor node

The centroid of all the SNs (i.e., the MSN)

The upwind direction at the MSN centroid

Figure
Figure 3. Theillustration
3. The illustrationofofthe
thecustomized
customized crossover
crossover operator.
operator. TheThe polygon
polygon with
with solid
solid border-
borderlines
lines and the rectangle with dotted borderlines are the upwind search area and the whole
and the rectangle with dotted borderlines are the upwind search area and the whole search search
area,
area, respectively.
respectively.

4.
4. Candidate chromosome
Candidate chromosome evaluation
evaluation (line
(line 16
16 in
in Algorithm
Algorithm 2).
2).
Toevaluate
To evaluatethethenewly
newly generated
generated candidate
candidate chromosome,
chromosome, an SNanconducting
SN conducting C-be-
C-behavior
havior
is is steered
steered to approach
to approach it. SN
it. If the If the SN encounters
encounters an above-threshold
an above-threshold concentration
concentration mea-
measurement on its way to the candidate chromosome, the evaluation process
surement on its way to the candidate chromosome, the evaluation process is terminated. is termi-
nated. Subsequently,
Subsequently, the U-behavior
the U-behavior and population
and population update update processes
processes are activated.
are activated.
5. Termination criterion (line 2 in Algorithm 2).
5. Termination criterion (line 2 in Algorithm 2).
The position where the SN loses contact with the plume, denoted as the last contact
The position where the SN loses contact with the plume, denoted as the last contact
position (LCP), is used to terminate the localization process. If the distance between suc-
position (LCP), is used to terminate the localization process. If the distance between
cessive LCPs does not exceed 1 m for 10 iterations, which means the LCPs converged at
successive LCPs does not exceed 1 m for 10 iterations, which means the LCPs converged at
the newest LCP, then the uGA is terminated. The newest LCP is considered as the source
the newest LCP, then the uGA is terminated. The newest LCP is considered as the source
location of the unknown chemical plume.
location of the unknown chemical plume.
The differences between GA and uGA are summarized in Table 1.
The differences between GA and uGA are summarized in Table 1.
Table 1. Differences between GA and uGA.

GA uGA
Initialization Random initialization Initialized around the first plume contact
Population update Fitness-value comparison Moving and detecting
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 8 of 14

Table 1. Differences between GA and uGA.

GA uGA
Initialization Random initialization Initialized around the first plume contact
Population update Fitness-value comparison Moving and detecting
Selection Select m × pc chromosomes Select two chromosomes
Crossover Probabilistic crossover Upwind-customized probabilistic crossover
Termination Maximal iteration times LCP convergence
Application Function optimization Chemical plume source localization

3. Simulation Setup
The FPSP proposed by Farrell et al. [21] is used to test the proposed method. In FPSP,
a 100 m-by-100 m square search area is simulated. Within the search area, six mobile sensor
nodes are moving at a speed of 2 m/s to search for an unknown chemical plume source.
From the source, a large number of chemical filaments that contain chemical material
normally distributed relative to the filament center are continuously released and dispersed
in the search area. Then, the released filaments are horizontally transferred by the dynamic
turbulent flow. All released filaments contribute to the instantaneous concentration C(x, t)
at x as follows [21]:

∑iN−1 Ci (x, t),

C (x, t) = 
Q − d2 ( t ) (8)
Ci (x, t) = √
3 3
exp R2i(t) , di (t) = kx − pi k,
8π Ri (t) i

where N is the total number of filaments, Q is the amount of chemical substance units in a
filament, and Ri (t) and pi are the size parameter and position
p of the i-th filament, respectively.
Typical values of Q and Ri (t) can be set as 8.3 × 109 and 0.001(1 + t), respectively [21]. It
can be seen that the value of Ci (x,t) is dominated by Ri (t) and pi , which are influenced by
the motion of the ith filament.
In the FPSP, the motion speed of the filaments is governed by the surrounding flow’s
velocities. The degree of the flow velocity fluctuation, which can be changed by tuning
the noise parameters a, b, and G [21], is positively correlated with the degree of varia-
tion in the filament’s positions. To complicate the CPSL problem, large-amplitude flow
fluctuations [21] are generated by setting the parameters a, b, and G to 0.04, 0.04, and 20,
respectively. Moreover, as a further development of FPSP, the time-varying flow velocities
are saved to a file in chronological order.
Based on the same flow-velocity file, the SS method [17] is tested as a counterpart
method for comparison with the uGA. The similarities and differences between the SS and
uGA methods are summarized in Table 2. There are substantial differences between the SS
and uGA methods, although both methods employ reactive upwind sprint operation to
control the SN node currently in contact with the plume. First, in the plume reacquiring
stage, SS and uGA steer the SNs along deterministic spiraling paths and toward the newly
generated chromosome, respectively. Second, SS and uGA realize cooperation among
the SNs through simple explicit “ATTRACT” communication and customized crossover
of the genetic algorithm chromosomes, respectively. Third, as the termination condition,
SS compares a predefined constant with the distance from the chemical source to the
SNs, while the uGA uses the distances between successive LCPs to judge whether the SN
locations converge. Because the plume source location is previously unknown in real CPSL
applications, the calculation of the SN–source distance is not applicable.
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 9 of 14

Table 2. Similarity and differences between the SS and uGA methods.

SS uGA
Contacting the plume Upwind sprint Upwind sprint
To reacquire the plume Spiraling Move to candidate chromosomes
Cooperation Simple communications Customized chromosome crossover
Termination Source distance LCPs convergence

To test the uGA and SS methods under identical conditions in all trials, three setups
were created, as follows:
1. The same flow field was reproduced by periodically reading a file in which time-
varying flow velocities were previously saved. This setup can help to avoid the
influence of different flow fluctuations on the localization processes and results.
2. The same plume-finding scheme was used, in which the MSN starts from the same
rendezvous (the top-right corner) and departs from it along prefixed angles. In other
words, the initial plume-finding stage, which is strongly influenced by the selection of
the starting rendezvous, was not studied in these comparison simulations. Because of
this setup, the parameter SpiralGap1 in the plume-finding stage of the original SS is
omitted. Only the value of SpiralGap2 should be set in the SS simulations. For testing
the FPSP, the value of SpiralGap2 was empirically set to 5 m.
3. The same termination criterion was used to terminate the methods. The LCP conver-
gence condition in uGA (i.e., the distance between successive LCPs did not exceed
1 meter for 10 LCPs) was also used to terminate SS.

4. Results and Discussion

4.1. Parameter Selection
There are five parameters in the uGA: population size m; mutation probability pm ; and
three time-cycle thresholds, thl , tha , and thm that satisfy thl < tha < thm . The values of thl and
thm were empirically set as 5 and 5000, respectively. In the cases that gld > 5 and gld > 5000,
it is reasonable to declare that the SN has lost contact with the plume and the CPSL process
has failed, respectively. Moreover, to investigate the influence of the crossover operation
on the performance of uGA, an additional variable is considered in the simulation: the
crossover type, denoted as cTy. The cases cTy = 1, 2, and 3 mean that the one-point crossover,
two-point crossover, and uniform crossover are employed in uGA, respectively. Therefore,
the values of m, pm , tha , and cTy should be selected for subsequent simulations.
To efficiently determine the optimal value combination of m, tha , cTy, and pm , the
orthogonal experimental design method [24] was used. The parameters m, tha , cTy, and pm
were taken as orthogonal experimental factors, such that m  {10, 20, 30}, tha  {20, 40, 60},
cTy  {1, 2, 3}, and pm  {0.3, 0.5, 0.8}, respectively. There are nine different value combi-
nations in the L9 (34 ) orthogonal experiments. With respect to each value combination, the
results of 20 simulation trials were recorded and averaged. Table 3 presents the average results.
The small localization errors in Table 3 indicate that the termination criterion of uGA
can successfully declare the chemical source in the FPSP. Empirically, if the distance between
the real and localized pollution source positions is smaller than 1 m, the SN can easily find
the real pollution source when it arrives at the localization position-result. Moreover, the
differences among the localization errors are minor when the values of m, tha , cTy, and pm
vary within the 16 different value combinations. This is because the localization result is
determined by the termination criterion, which is fixed to the same value for the different
simulations in Table 3. Thus, the localization results are hardly influenced by the different
parameter values of uGA.
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 10 of 14

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767

Moreover, the differences among the localization errors are minor when the values10ofofm, 14
tha, cTy, and pm vary within the 16 different value combinations. This is because the local-
ization result is determined by the termination criterion, which is fixed to the same value
for the different simulations in Table 3. Thus, the localization results are hardly influenced
Table 3. Orthogonal experimental results of different m, tha , cTy, and pm in uGA.
by the different parameter values of uGA.
However, the spent cycles, that is, the number
Experimental Factors
of time cycles spent by the MSNb from
Spent Cycles a Localization Errors (m)
No. the beginning to termination, are prominently influenced by four orthogonal experi-
m tha
mental factors. cTy
This is mainlypmbecause the
Average
values of m,std. Average
tha, cTy, and std.
pm can influence the
1 10 20 1 0.3 1166 153.96 0.948
degrees of exploitation and exploration in uGA. The value of m defines the length of the 0.0457
2 10 40
memorized 2
detection points 0.5 1322 by the221.89
that are exploited C-behavior. th 0.920 0.0606
a and cTy determine
3 10 60 3 0.8 1341 385.91 0.959 0.0455
the time-span and manner of exploiting memorized information. pm has a positive impact
4 20 20 2 0.8 1027 115.76 0.932 0.0529
5 20 on 40
the exploration3 ability of uGA.
0.3 The value 1355combination {m, tha, cTy,
303.79 pm} = {20, 20,
0.935 2, 0.8},
0.0437
6 20 which
60 obtained the1 minimal averages
0.5 and1532
standard deviations
127.90 (std)0.954
of the spent 0.0587
cycles in
7 30 Table
20 2, is used for
3 the following
0.5 comparison1119 experiments.322.25 0.941 0.0476
8 30 40 1 0.8 1418 327.57 0.949 0.0281
9 30 60 2
4.2. Results Comparison 0.3 1166 153.96 0.948 0.0457
a
Time cycles for the CPSL process the
fromperformance
the beginning to b The distance between the localization
To statistically evaluate oftermination.
the uGA and SS methods, each of the two
position-result and the real source location.
methods was tried 50 times. Figure 4 shows box plots of the time cycles spent in the 100
trials. The results in Figure 4 can be summarized as follows:
However, the spent cycles, that is, the number of time cycles spent by the MSN from
(1) The average
the beginning spent time cycles
to termination, of uGA andinfluenced
are prominently SS are 1054byand
four2041, respectively.
orthogonal experimental
(2) The spent time cycles of uGA are generally smaller than those of SS.
factors. This is mainly because the values of m, tha , cTy, and pm can influence the degrees of
exploitation
(3) and exploration
The distribution of the uGAin uGA.
timeThe value
cycles of m to
is close defines the length
the normal of the memorized
distribution, whereas
detection
those points that
of SS fall aretwo
into exploited
separateby the C-behavior.
sectors tha and
that are far from eachcTy determine the time-
other.
span and manner of exploiting memorized information. pm has a positive impact on the
The quantile–quantile (Q–Q) plots in Figure 5 show the distance between the distri-
exploration ability of uGA. The value combination {m, tha , cTy, pm } = {20, 20, 2, 0.8}, which
bution of spent time cycles and the normal distribution. Almost all the points in Figure 5a
obtained the minimal averages and standard deviations (std) of the spent cycles in Table 2,
lie within the area between the upper and lower percentile lines with a confidence level
is used for the following comparison experiments.
of 95%, which are close to the centerline y = x. In Figure 5b, there are only a few points
between theComparison
4.2. Results two percentile lines. To some extent, the quasi-normal distribution of the time
cycles spent by the uGA verifies that the localization efficiency of the uGA is stable in the
To statistically evaluate the performance of the uGA and SS methods, each of the
dynamic flow field of the FPSP.
two methods was tried 50 times. Figure 4 shows box plots of the time cycles spent in the
Apart from the localization efficiency, the localization error is another factor that
100 trials. The results in Figure 4 can be summarized as follows:
should be considered in CPSL applications. Figure 6 shows box plots of the localization
(1) The
errors average
obtained spent
using uGAtimeandcycles of Figure
SS. In uGA and SSthe
6, all arelocalization
1054 and 2041, respectively.
errors are smaller than
1.0 m, which means that it is easy to find the real chemical source withinSS.
(2) The spent time cycles of uGA are generally smaller than those of the neighborhood
(3) The distribution of the uGA time cycles is close to the normal distribution, whereas
of all convergence locations. To summarize, the localization results verify that the termi-
those of SS fall into two separate sectors that are far from each other.
nation criteria in uGA can successfully declare the chemical source in the FPSP.

uGA
3000
SS

2500
Spent cycles

2000

1500

1000

500
uGA SS
Algorithms

Figure
Figure 4.
4. Box
Box plots
plotsofof the
the time
time cycles
cycles spent
spent by
by the
the uGA
uGA and
and SS
SS methods.
methods. Each
Eachbox
boxplot
plotisis based
based on
on
the
the results
results of
of 50
50 trials.
trials.

The quantile–quantile (Q–Q) plots in Figure 5 show the distance between the distribu-
tion of spent time cycles and the normal distribution. Almost all the points in Figure 5a
 Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 11 of 14

lie within the area between the upper and lower percentile lines with a confidence level
of 95%, which are close to the centerline y = x. In Figure 5b, there are only a few points
between the two percentile lines. To some extent, the quasi-normal distribution of the time
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 1
cycles spent by the uGA verifies that the localization efficiency of the uGA is stable in the
dynamic flow field of the FPSP.
Normal Q-Q Plot of uGA. Normal Q-Q Plot of SS.
mu = 1054 sigma = 146.92 mu = 2041 sigma = 372.20
1600 3500

1400 3000

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 11 of 14

Expected Normal Value

Expected Normal Value

2500
1200

2000
1000 Q-Q Plot of uGA.
Normal Normal Q-Q Plot of SS.
mu = 1054 sigma = 146.92 mu = 2041 sigma = 372.20
1600 3500 1500
800

1400 3000 1000

600
Expected Normal Value

Expected Normal Value

2500 500
1200 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500

uGA SS
2000
1000 (a) (b)
Figure 5. Quantile–quantile
Figure 5. Quantile–quantile 1500 (Q–Q) plots of the time cycles spent by uGA and SS. The thin gray line
(Q–Q) plots of the time cycles spent by uGA and SS. The thin gray lines
800
are the upper and lower percentile lines with lines
are the upper and lower percentile with a confidence
a confidence level
level of 95%. (a)ofNormal
95%. (a) Normal
Q–Q Q–Q
plot of theplot of the
1000
time cycles spent by uGA; (b) normal Q–Q plot of the time cycles
time cycles spent by uGA; (b) normal Q–Q plot of the time cycles spent by SS. spent by SS.
600

500
600 800 Apart
1000 from
1200 the
1400 localization 1000
efficiency,
1500 the localization
2000 2500 3000 error
3500
uGAis another factor that
shoulduGA be considered
1.2 in CPSL applications. Figure SS 6 shows boxSSplots of the localization
errors(a)obtained using uGA and SS. In Figure 6, (b)all the localization errors are smaller than
1.0 m, which means that it is easy to find the
Figure 5. Quantile–quantile (Q–Q) plots of the time cycles real chemical
spentsource
by uGA within the
and SS. neighborhood
The thin gray linesof
allthe
convergence locations. To summarize,
lines with athe localizationlevel results
of 95%. verify that Q–Q
the termination
Localization errors (m)

are upper and 1.0 lower percentile confidence (a) Normal plot of the
criteria
time cycles inspent
uGAby canuGA;successfully
(b) normaldeclare
Q–Q plot the ofchemical source
the time cycles in the
spent FPSP.
by SS.

0.8 uGA
1.2 SS

0.6
Localization errors (m)

1.0

0.4
0.8 uGA SS
Algorithms

Figure 6. Box plots of the localization errors obtained by the uGA and SS methods. Each box plot i
0.6 based on the results of 50 trials.

The moving paths of the SNs obtained when SS and uGA were employed are also
0.4
compared. Figure 7 shows the paths generated in two typical simulation trials. In both
trials, the
uGA MSN obtained its first SS contact with the plume at the top-right corner. When the
Algorithms
SNs lost contact with the chemical plume, the plume re-finding behavior and spiraling
Figure movement
Figure6.6.Box
Boxplots
plotsofofthewere
the activated
localization
localization in uGA
errors
errors andby
obtained
obtained SS, respectively.
bythe uGA
the andSSSSThe
uGAand pathsEach
methods.
methods. in Figure
Eachbox 7 can
boxplot
plotisis be sum
based on marized
the
based on the results as
results of 50follows:
of 50 trials.
trials.
(1) The uGA outputs a set of straight-line paths, whereas the SS outputs revolving
Themoving
The movingpaths
pathsofofthe
theSNs
SNsobtained
obtainedwhen
whenSS SSand
anduGAuGAwere
wereemployed
employedare arealso
also
shaped paths.
compared.
compared.(2) Figure
Figure 7 shows the paths generated in two typical simulation trials. In both
The7interactions
shows the pathswithingenerated
the MSN in in uGA
two typical
were moresimulation
effectivetrials.
than In both
those in SS.
trials,the
trials, theMSN
MSNobtained
obtaineditsitsfirst
firstcontact
contactwith
withthe
theplume
plumeatatthe
thetop-right
top-rightcorner.
corner.When
Whenthe the
(3) The paths in Figure 7a are more divergent than those in Figure 7b.
SNslost
SNs lostcontact
contactwith
withthethechemical
chemicalplume,
plume,thetheplume
plumere-finding
re-findingbehavior
behaviorand andspiraling
spiraling
The straight-line paths generated by uGA helped in reducing the path length for re
movement were activated in uGA and SS, respectively. The paths in Figure 7 can be sum-
acquiring the plume, since the shortest distance between two points is a straight line
marized as follows:
Moreover, the SNs interacted with each other in SS through simple “ATRRACT” commu
(1) The uGA outputs
nications, a set uGA
whereas of straight-line paths, whereas
enabled interaction theMSN
within the SS outputs revolving- crossove
by the customized
shaped paths.
operator in the C-behavior. The customized crossover operator is capable of improving
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 12 of 14

Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, x FOR PEER REVIEW 12 o

movement were activated in uGA and SS, respectively. The paths in Figure 7 can be
summarized as follows:
following one of the SNs via the ATTRACT communication in SS can only strengthen t
(1) The uGA outputs a set of straight-line paths, whereas the SS outputs revolving-
contact between the MSN and the plume. Finally, after the SNs entered the left part of t
shaped paths.
search space, the diversity of the SN positions was well maintained by the D-behavior
(2) The interactions within the MSN in uGA were more effective than those in SS.
uGA.inMaintaining
(3) The paths a relatively
Figure 7a are high SN
more divergent diversity
than those incan help 7b.
Figure increase the area covered by t
SNs and increase the probability of reacquiring the plume.

(a)

(b)
Figure
Figure 7. Typical 7. Typical
paths paths
generated bygenerated by the
the uGA and SS uGA and SS
methods. methods.
Paths Paths colors
in different in different
belongcolors
to belong
different SNs. (a) Typical paths of the uGA method; (b) typical paths of
different SNs. (a) Typical paths of the uGA method; (b) typical paths of the SS method.the SS method.

5. Conclusions
The straight-line paths generated by uGA helped in reducing the path length for
reacquiring the A plume, since
behavior the shortestmethod,
composition distancenamely
between thetwo
uGA points is a is
method, straight line.to solve t
proposed
Moreover, the SNs interacted
MSN-based CPSL with each uGA
problem. othercombines
in SS through simple “ATRRACT”
the effectiveness communi-
of the reactive upwind spr
cations, whereas
and the uGA enabled interaction
cooperative mechanismwithin
of thethe MSN by deliberative
GA-based the customized crossover Compar
cooperation.
operator inwith
the C-behavior.
the attractionThe customized
mechanism crossover
used in the SSoperator
method,is capable of improving
the C-behavior of uGA has tw
the effectiveness
advantages. First, rather than just following the SN closest to the comparison,
by steering the SNs toward the upwind area of the MSN. In plume source, the n
following one of the SNsgenerated
chromosome via the ATTRACT communication
by the C-behavior of uGAinisSS can likely
more only strengthen
to be closerthe
to the plum
contact between the MSN and the plume. Finally, after the SNs entered
source than all the current SN positions. Second, the C-behavior canthe left parthelp
of the
maintain t
search space, the diversity
diversity of the of
SNthe SN positions
positions, while was welldiversity
the SN maintained by the D-behavior
is severely reduced when of other S
get close to the SN attracting them. Moreover, the D-behavior can further improve t
search efficiency by increasing the diversity of SN positions.
Appl. Sci. 2022, 12, 5767 13 of 14

uGA. Maintaining a relatively high SN diversity can help increase the area covered by the
SNs and increase the probability of reacquiring the plume.

5. Conclusions
A behavior composition method, namely the uGA method, is proposed to solve the
MSN-based CPSL problem. uGA combines the effectiveness of the reactive upwind sprint
and the cooperative mechanism of the GA-based deliberative cooperation. Compared
with the attraction mechanism used in the SS method, the C-behavior of uGA has two
advantages. First, rather than just following the SN closest to the plume source, the new
chromosome generated by the C-behavior of uGA is more likely to be closer to the plume
source than all the current SN positions. Second, the C-behavior can help maintain the
diversity of the SN positions, while the SN diversity is severely reduced when other SNs
get close to the SN attracting them. Moreover, the D-behavior can further improve the
search efficiency by increasing the diversity of SN positions.
Simulation results show that the proposed uGA method achieved high efficiency
during plume source localization in simulated marine environments. Considering CPSL
processes are often started after the pollution material is previously encountered, which
facilitates the setup of a downwind start position for the MSN, all SNs started from the
downwind side of the simulated pollution source. The case that the SNs started at the
upwind area of the pollution source may cause the calculation time to increase. Moreover,
inaccurate measurements or transmission mistakes may cause the localization accuracy and
efficiency to decrease. Further research lines include: (1) designing new behaviors for better
maintaining the SN diversity and striking a balance between plume information exploration
and exploitation; (2) conducting field experiments using autonomous underwater vehicles
in real marine environments.

Author Contributions: Conceptualization, methodology, software, writing—original draft prepa-

ration, M.C.; software, H.B.; resources, supervision, X.H. All authors have read and agreed to the
published version of the manuscript.
Funding: This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant
no. 61801287).
Institutional Review Board Statement: Not applicable.
Informed Consent Statement: Not applicable.
Data Availability Statement: The simulation result data used to support the findings of this study
have been deposited in the Github repository (https://github.com/aoxfrank/SimulationDat.git, last
accessed at 4 June 2022).
Acknowledgments: The authors would like to thank Professor Jay Farrell from the University of
California, Riverside, USA, for sharing the codes of the FPSP.
Conflicts of Interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest.

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