Towards Mapping of Underwater Structures by a Team of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Marios Xanthidis, Bharat Joshi, Monika Roznere, Weihan Wang, Nathaniel Burgdorfer, Alberto Quattrini Li, Philippos Mordohai, Srihari Nelakuditi, Ioannis Rekleitis

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

3 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this paper, we discuss how to effectively map an underwater structure with a team of robots considering the specific challenges posed by the underwater environment. The overarching goal of this work is to produce high-definition, accurate, photorealistic representation of underwater structures. Due to the many limitations of vision underwater, operating at a distance from the structure results in degraded images that lack details, while operating close to the structure increases the accumulated uncertainty due to the limited viewing area which causes drifting. We propose a multi-robot mapping framework that utilizes two types of robots: proximal observers which map close to the structure and distal observers which provide localization for proximal observers and bird’s-eye-view situational awareness. The paper presents the fundamental components and related current results from real shipwrecks and simulations necessary to enable the proposed framework, including robust state estimation, real-time 3D mapping, and active perception navigation strategies for the two types of robots. Then, the paper outlines interesting research directions and plans to have a completely integrated framework that allows robots to map in harsh environments.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationRobotics Research
EditorsAude Billard, Tamim Asfour, Oussama Khatib
Pages170-185
Number of pages16
DOIs
StatePublished - 2023
Event18th International Symposium of Robotics Research, ISRR 2022 - Geneva, Switzerland
Duration: 25 Sep 202230 Sep 2022

Publication series

NameSpringer Proceedings in Advanced Robotics
Volume27 SPAR
ISSN (Print)2511-1256
ISSN (Electronic)2511-1264

Conference

Conference18th International Symposium of Robotics Research, ISRR 2022
Country/TerritorySwitzerland
CityGeneva
Period25/09/2230/09/22

Keywords

  • Localization
  • Mapping
  • Multi-robot
  • Navigation
  • Underwater

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