Design and Development of Deep Learning-Aided Vision Guidance System for AUV Homing Applications

In the current subsea industry scenario, autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are widely used for expeditions and explorations. However, the mission duration is limited due to the limitations in the battery capacity. To increase the endurance, there is a need for a submerged docking station (DS) to charge the battery, also to update the next mission profile. In this letter, deep learning (DL) technique aided short-range vision guidance is envisaged for a reliable and precise AUV homing operation. Intelligent control algorithms with an efficient DL-based you only look once (YOLO) v5-image processing techniques are used for DS detection and tracking and deployed in an edge computer integrated into AUV prototype. The developed illuminated DS and AUV prototype with high-definition camera has been demonstrated in test tank at depth of 2 m. An analysis was conducted on the DS data set, which comprised 132 images of clear and turbid water, 13 were designated for testing, 40 for validation, and 79 for training purposes. The results were observed that the probability of detecting the DS is 95%, detection range is 5 m, the probability of homing toward the DS is CEP 90 with the position error of 5% in less-turbid waters and in high-turbid waters, 60% is the probability of DS detection with position error up to 25%, detectable range is 1 m. The proposed embedded hardware is extremely useful for underwater reliable homing applications.