A heuristic algorithm for minimax sensor location in the plane

This paper addresses the problem of locating a finite number of sensors to detect an event in a given planar region. The objective is to minimize the maximum probability of non-detection where the underlying region consists of a convex polygon. The sensor location problem has a multitude of applications, including the location of aircraft detection sensors, the placement of sentries along a border to detect enemy penetration, the detection of nuclear tests, and the detection of natural and hazardous man-made events. The problem is a difficult nonlinear nonconvex programming problem even in the case of two sensors. A fast heuristic based on Voronoi polygons is developed in this paper. The algorithm can quickly generate high-quality solutions. Computational experience is provided.