Recovering the 3D UUV Position using UAV Imagery in Shallow-Water Environments

Abstract-- In this paper we propose a novel approach aimed at recovering the 3D position of an UUV from UAV imagery in shallow-water environments. Through combination of UAV and UUV measurements, we show that our method can be utilized as an accurate and cost-effective alternative when compared to acoustic sensing methods, typically required to obtain ground truth information in underwater localization problems. Furthermore, our approach allows for a seamless conversion to geo-referenced coordinates which can be utilized for navigation purposes. To validate our method, we present the results with data collected through a simulation environment and field experiments, demonstrating the ability to successfully recover the UUV position with sub-meter accuracy. Unavailability of Global Positioning System (GPS) information underwater makes the task of Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUV) localization a difficult problem that requires deployment of expensive acoustic sensors such as Doppler Velocity Log (DVL), Long BaseLine (LBL) and Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL), typically fused with Inertial Measurements Units (IMUs).