  The problem of rapid optimal coverage through the distribution a team of
robots or static sensors via means of aerial drop is the topic of this work.
Considering a nonholonomic (fixed-wing) aerial robot that corresponds to the
carrier of a set of small holonomic (rotorcraft) aerial robots as well as
static modules that are all equipped with a camera sensor, we address the
problem of selecting optimal aerial drop times and configurations while the
motion capabilities of the small aerial robots are also exploited to further
survey their area of responsibility until they hit the ground. The overall
solution framework consists of lightweight path-planning algorithms that can
run on virtually any processing unit that might be available on-board.
Evaluation studies in simulation as well as a set of elementary experiments
that prove the validity of important assumptions illustrate the potential of
the approach.
