Towards Realistic 3D Sonar Simulation

Abstract

As underwater robotics research increasingly addresses complex 3D perception and autonomous navigation, the fidelity of sonar simulation has become a key factor in algorithm development. Current simulation frameworks typically rely on geometry-driven rendering, approximating 3D sonar as an underwater equivalent to LiDAR, which fails to account for fundamental acoustic phenomena such as refraction, multi-path interference, and phase-dependent signal formation. This paper proposes a modular architecture for realistic 3D sonar simulation that integrates GPU-accelerated graphics engines with physically grounded acoustic propagation principles. We implement a volumetric 3D sonar model within the NVIDIA Isaac Sim environment, modeled after the Water Linked 3D-15 sensor, and integrate it into a comprehensive underwater simulation framework. The system is validated through a hardware-in-the-loop configuration, where a modified FastLIO2 SLAM pipeline, executed on an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano, performs sensor fusion using synthetic 3D sonar, DVL, IMU, and pressure data. Finally, a qualitative comparison between simulated outputs and real-world data from harbor sheet-pile inspections is provided, characterizing the remaining sim-to-real gap and establishing a roadmap toward fully acoustics-driven volumetric sensing.