Accurate navigation is a critical requirement for many
unmanned underwater vehicles missions. This becomes even more apparent when
operating in near intervention and hazardous locations such as near the seabed.
The use of vision systems and image processing as a means of high precision
horizontal motion estimation in near seabed missions can bring many advantages
over commercially available sensor solutions. This paper discusses the vision
system and the data collection method used for vision based navigation
investigation on the newly developed smart remotely operated vehicle, ROVLATIS.
ROVLATIS has undergone full sea trials onboard the RV Celtic Explorer off the
west coast of Ireland. The key results and conclusions from these trials are
presented.
EI CFTD: Multi-Purpose Platform Technologies for Subsea Operations, IRCSET, Ship-time 2008: Novel imaging & control technology research on ROV with Integrated Science Survey Missions