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Underwater map-based localization using flow features

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Abstract

Underwater robots conventionally use vision and sonar sensors for autonomous localization. Fish on the other hand also have the ability to sense flow, which assists them in navigating. Recently, it has been shown that bioinspired flow sensing can be used in robotics, for tasks such as object detection and positioning in laboratory conditions. In this paper we present a map-based localization technique using flow sensing. The technique is based upon compact histogram features that are extracted from frequency spectra of pressure data acquired using a single piezo-resistive sensor. The features are used to create flow-based map of an underwater environment, and later during an off-line localization phase, similar features are again extracted and used inside a particle filter in order to perform localization. Experiments carried out using pressure data acquired inside a model fish pass validate the proposed technique.

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Notes

  1. Global Positioning System.

  2. For the same motion command, motion noises of 35 and 50 % (as used in later experiments) would correspond to Gaussian noise with standard deviation of 10 and 14.5 cm, respectively, centered around 50 cm.

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Acknowledgments

This work has been funded by the project FISHVIEW, that has received funding from BONUS, the joint Baltic Sea research and development programme (Art 185), funded jointly from the European Unions Seventh Programme, Keskkonnainvesteeringute Keskus (Estonia), Forschungszentrum Jlich Beteiligungsgesellschaft mbH (Germany) and Academy of Finland.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Biorobotics, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Naveed Muhammad, Gert Toming & Maarja Kruusmaa

  2. SJE Ecohydraulic Engineering GmbH, Stuttgart, Germany

    Jeffrey A. Tuhtan

  3. Institute of Water and River Basin Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Karlsruhe, Germany

    Mark Musall

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  1. Naveed Muhammad
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  2. Gert Toming
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  3. Jeffrey A. Tuhtan
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  5. Maarja Kruusmaa
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Correspondence to Naveed Muhammad.

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Muhammad, N., Toming, G., Tuhtan, J.A. et al. Underwater map-based localization using flow features. Auton Robot 41, 417–436 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-016-9558-0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10514-016-9558-0

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