Physics-Based Modelling and Simulation of Multibeam Echosounder Perception for Autonomous Underwater Manipulation
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Authors
Choi, Woen-Sug
Olson, Derek R.
Davis, Duane
Zhang, Mabel
Racson, Andy
Bingham, Brian
McCarrin, Michael
Vogt, Carson
Herman, Jessica
Subjects
real-time simulation
underwater robotics
multibeam echosounder
point scattering model
gazebo framework
underwater robotics
multibeam echosounder
point scattering model
gazebo framework
Advisors
Date of Issue
2021-09
Date
2021-09
Publisher
Frontiers
Language
en_US
Abstract
One of the key distinguishing aspects of underwater manipulation tasks is the perception challenges of the ocean environment, including turbidity, backscatter, and lighting effects. Consequently, underwater perception often relies on sonar-based measurements to estimate the vehicle’s state and surroundings, either standalone or in concert with other sensing modalities, to support the perception necessary to plan and control manipulation tasks. Simulation of the multibeam echosounder, while not a substitute for in-water testing, is a critical capability for developing manipulation strategies in the complex and variable ocean environment. Although several approaches exist in the literature to simulate synthetic sonar images, the methods in the robotics community typically use image processing and video rendering software to comply with real-time execution requirements. In addition to a lack of physics-based interaction model between sound and the scene of interest, several basic properties are absent in these rendered sonar images–notably the coherent imaging system and coherent speckle that cause distortion of the object geometry in the sonar image. To address this deficiency, we present a physics-based multibeam echosounder simulation method to capture these fundamental aspects of sonar perception. A point-based scattering model is implemented to calculate the acoustic interaction between the target and the environment. This is a simplified representation of target scattering but can produce realistic coherent image speckle and the correct point spread function. The results demonstrate that this multibeam echosounder simulator generates qualitatively realistic images with high efficiency to provide the sonar image and the physical time series signal data. This synthetic sonar data is a key enabler for developing, testing, and evaluating autonomous underwater manipulation strategies that use sonar as a component of perception.
Type
Article
Description
17 USC 105 interim-entered record; under review.
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.706646
The article of record as published may be found at https://doi.org/10.3389/frobt.2021.706646
Series/Report No
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NPS Report Number
Sponsors
Funding
This research was performed while the author held an NRC Research Associateship award at Field Robotics Laboratory, Naval Postgraduate School
Format
11 p.
Citation
Choi W-S, Olson DR, Davis D, Zhang M, Racson A, Bingham B, McCarrin M, Vogt C and Herman J (2021) Physics-Based Modelling and Simulation of Multibeam Echosounder Perception for Autonomous Underwater Manipulation. Front. Robot. AI 8:706646. doi: 10.3389/frobt.2021.706646
Distribution Statement
Rights
This publication is a work of the U.S. Government as defined in Title 17, United States Code, Section 101. Copyright protection is not available for this work in the United States.