3D Occupancy Mapping Framework Based on Acoustic Camera in Underwater Environment

In this paper, we present a novel probabilistic three-dimensional (3D) mapping framework that uses acoustic images captured in an underwater environment. Acoustic camera is a forward-looking imaging sonar that is commonly used in underwater inspection recently; however, the loss of elevation angle information makes it difficult to get a better understanding of underwater environment. To cope with this, we apply a probabilistic occupancy mapping framework with a novel inverse sensor model suitable for the acoustic camera in order to reconstruct the underwater environment in volumetric presentation. The simulations and experimental results demonstrate that our mapping framework for the acoustic camera can reconstruct dense 3D model of underwater targets successfully.