ACMarker: Acoustic Camera-Based Fiducial Marker System in Underwater Environment

Abstract

ACMarker is an acoustic camera-based fiducial marker system designed for underwater environments. Optical camera-based fiducial marker systems have been widely used in computer vision and robotics applications such as augmented reality (AR), camera calibration, and robot navigation. However, in underwater environments, the performance of optical cameras is limited owing to water turbidity and illumination conditions. Acoustic cameras, which are forward-looking sonars, have been gradually applied in underwater situations. They can acquire high-resolution images even in turbid water with poor illumination. We propose methods to recognize a simply designed marker and to estimate the relative pose between the acoustic camera and the marker. The proposed system can be applied to various underwater tasks such as object tracking and localization of unmanned underwater vehicles. Simulation and real experiments were conducted to test the recognition of such markers and pose estimation based on the markers.