ROBOTIC SENSOR NETWORKS ARE CONNECTED MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS MADE UP OF SMALL-SCALE LOW-POWER ROBOTS WITH SENSING AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATION CAPABILITIES. THIS TYPE OF SYSTEM IS IDEAL FOR PLANETARY SURFACE EXPLORATION DUE TO THE SCALABLE FLEXIBLE AND FAULTTOLERANT NATURE OF MULTI-AGENT SYSTEMS AND THE LOW-MASS LOW-COST NATURE OF SMALL-SCALE ROBOTS. UNLIKE TRADITIONAL SENSOR NETWORKS ROBOTIC SENSOR NETWORKS HAVE THE ADVANTAGE OF BEING PHYSICALLY RECONFIGURABLE. CURRENT STATE-OF-THE-ART TECHNOLOGY FOR MOTION CONTROL IN ROBOTIC SENSOR NETWORKS HAS THE OBJECTIVE OF MAINTAINING SPECIFIC FORMATIONS OR MAXIMIZING COVERAGE. BUT FOR SPACE EXPLORATION WHERE A NETWORK MAY BE DEPLOYED TO SCOUT HARSH ENVIRONMENTS AND DELIVER TIME-SENSITIVE INFORMATION BACK TO A ROVER OR BASE STATION USING CONTROLLED MOBILITY TO THE ADVANTAGE OF DATA ROUTING IS AN UNEXPLORED AND PROMISING RESEARCH DIRECTION. THE GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO INVESTIGATE A MOTION CONTROL ALGORITHM FOR ROBOTIC SENSOR NETWORKS WHICH (1) DISTRIBUTES DECISION-MAKING ACROSS ROBOTS REDUCING DEPENDENCY ON THE ROVER OR BASE STATION AND ALLOWING SCALABILITY FLEXIBILITY AND FAULT-TOLERANCE; (2) ALLOWS FOR THE TIMELY DELIVERY OF INFORMATION TO THE ROVER OR BASE STATION THROUGH THE CREATION OF AN OPTIMAL MULTI-HOP COMMUNICATION LINK; AND (3) MINIMIZES ENERGY SPENT ON COMMUNICATION AND MOTION TO BE SUITABLE FOR LOW-POWER SMALL-SCALE ROBOTS. BY DEMONSTRATING THE FEASIBILITY OF THIS ALGORITHM AND EVALUATING ITS PERFORMANCE RELATIVE TO A CENTRALIZED COMMUNICATION ARCHITECTURE THIS RESEARCH WILL RESULT IN NOVEL DISTRIBUTED AUTONOMY FOR ROBOTIC SENSOR NETWORKS. THIS RESEARCH DIRECTLY ADDRESSES THE NASA-IDENTIFIED TECHNOLOGY NEED FOR AUTOMATED INTELLIGENT NETWORKED SYSTEMS (TA 5.5.3.1).