Time-Efficient Active Bearing-Only Localization with Reception and Coverage Guarantees

Observation locations in bearing-only localization affect travel, uncertainty, and subsequent measurement requirements. We study a mobile sensor locating and removing a stationary omnidirectional radio source with bounded bearing errors and an unknown reception radius within known bounds. After initial detection, the second observation point minimizes expected remaining action time under a fixed continuation policy, subject to reliable reception and eventual completion. A three-disk intersection screens reception-safe candidates. The minimum enclosing circle of the bearing-consistent region certifies whether a removal disk covers every possible source location. Monte Carlo simulations evaluate complete missions, including travel, readings, and removal; a finite fallback scan guarantees completion under the model assumptions. In the reference case, 5,000 independent validation missions average 60.40 s, reducing time by 19.39% against a prescribed lateral point and 0.79% against a short-travel point. All 25,000 validation missions across five initial geometries succeed. An objective ablation shows that minimizing travel or reading count alone can increase completion time. The contribution is the integration of reception constraints, geometric coverage, and complete-mission time evaluation for reliable, time-efficient observation selection.