Title
Coverage Path Planning with Real‐time Replanning and Surface Reconstruction for Inspection of Three‐dimensional Underwater Structures using Autonomous Underwater Vehicles
Abstract
We present a novel method for planning coverage paths for inspecting complex structures on the ocean floor using an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Our method initially uses a 2.5-dimensional (2.5D) prior bathymetric map to plan a nominal coverage path that allows the AUV to pass its sensors over all points on the target area. The nominal path uses a standard mowing-the-lawn pattern in effectively planar regions, while in regions with substantial 3D relief it follows horizontal contours of the terrain at a given offset distance. We then go beyond previous approaches in the literature by considering the vehicle's state uncertainty rather than relying on the unrealistic assumption of an idealized path execution. Toward that end, we present a replanning algorithm based on a stochastic trajectory optimization that reshapes the nominal path to cope with the actual target structure perceived in situ. The replanning algorithm runs onboard the AUV in real time during the inspection mission, adapting the path according to the measurements provided by the vehicle's range-sensing sonars. Furthermore, we propose a pipeline of state-of-the-art surface reconstruction techniques we apply to the data acquired by the AUV to obtain 3D models of the inspected structures that show the benefits of our planning method for 3D mapping. We demonstrate the efficacy of our method in experiments at sea using the GIRONA 500 AUV, where we cover part of a breakwater structure in a harbor and an underwater boulder rising from 40m up to 27m depth. (C) 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
Year
DOI
Venue
2015
10.1002/rob.21554
JOURNAL OF FIELD ROBOTICS
Field
DocType
Volume
Motion planning,Computer vision,Seabed,Bathymetric chart,Trajectory optimization,Simulation,Terrain,Artificial intelligence,Engineering,Breakwater,Offset (computer science),Underwater
Journal
32.0
Issue
ISSN
Citations 
7.0
1556-4959
18
PageRank 
References 
Authors
0.78
63
6
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Enric Galceran123613.50
Ricard Campos2636.62
Narcís Palomeras311313.76
David Ribas421519.36
Marc Carreras537431.66
Pere Ridao637343.69