Experiments with Underwater Robot Localization and Tracking

TLDR

The study compares two distinct underwater robot localization methods in a novel experimental setup. The experiment contrasts a geometric acoustic ranging method using mobile and static nodes with a visual odometry approach based on stereo cameras and scaled optical flow, detailing their algorithmic principles. Experimental results show the performance of acoustic localization against GPS on the surface and compare acoustic and visual methods underwater.

Abstract

This paper describes a novel experiment in which two very different methods of underwater robot localization are compared. The first method is based on a geometric approach in which a mobile node moves within a field of static nodes, and all nodes are capable of estimating the range to their neighbours acoustically. The second method uses visual odometry, from stereo cameras, by integrating scaled optical flow. The fundamental algorithmic principles of each localization technique is described. We also present experimental results comparing acoustic localization with GPS for surface operation, and a comparison of acoustic and visual methods for underwater operation.