Implementation of low-cost sonar for underwater robot navigation

Abstract

Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) are increasing popular over the last decade. With the use of the latest state-of-the-art sensors, an extremely capable AUV can be developed to help with tasks such as underwater survey and mapping missions. However, the cost of those sensors makes it an infeasible solution to be used in a low-cost AUV system. Our project aims to develop an AUV capable of Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) by using low-cost sensors such as single-beam sonars and inertial measurement units. This paper aims to characterise a low-cost ping sonar developed by BlueRobotics by investigating various factors that may affect the sonar readings. The factors include materials of the target, the angle of the target, and the speed of the moving sonar. Additionally, a simulation of the sonar will be developed in Unity game engine to provide us with the ability to conduct virtual experiments for data collection. This project serves as a primary guideline for the usage of the ping sonar by BlueRobotics for the future development of a multi-robot AUV system.