A Sonar-based AUV Positioning System for Underwater Environments with Low Infrastructure Density

Emilio Olivastri, Daniel Fusaro, Wanmeng Li, Simone Mosco, Alberto Pretto

Abstract: The increasing demand for underwater vehicles highlights the necessity for robust localization solutions in inspection missions. In this work, we present a novel real-time sonar-based underwater global positioning algorithm for AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) designed for environments with a sparse distribution of human-made assets. Our approach exploits two synergistic data interpretation frontends applied to the same stream of sonar data acquired by a multibeam Forward-Looking Sonar (FSD). These observations are fused within a Particle Filter (PF) either to weigh more particles that belong to high-likelihood regions or to solve symmetric ambiguities. Preliminary experiments carried out on a simulated environment resembling a real underwater plant provided promising results. This work represents a starting point towards future developments of the method and consequent exhaustive evaluations also in real-world scenarios.