Range-Free Localization Algorithm Using a Customary Drone

The localization of devices is a key ingredient of Internet of Things (IoT). However, localization requires deploying many anchor nodes that are nodes whose location is known a- priori. Anchor nodes are expensive and their utilization may be unfeasible in some cases, such as in search-and-rescue operations. In this work, we propose a range-free localization algorithm that replaces the anchor nodes with an off-the-shelf drone. During the mission, the drone scans the deployment area and regularly broadcasts a beacon consisting of the current drone’s position projected on the ground. The sensors simply listen to the drone until they hear three special beacons and, after that, they locally compute their position. Our algorithm is able to ensure any user- defined localization precision just varying the distance between the beacons. Differently from the other range-based localization algorithms proposed for drones, our algorithm guarantees the localization precision without requiring any specific hardware technology, except the ability to communicate. Since our algorithm does not take any measure, the height of the drone only affect the receiving area of the sensor. Due to the simplicity of the interaction between the drone and the sensors during the algorithm, this solution can localize very high dense networks, even using a slightly shorter drone’s trajectory than the previous algorithms.