Virtual world visualization for an autonomous underwater vehicle

A critical bottleneck exists in autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV) design and development. It is tremendously difficult to observe, communicate with and test underwater robots, because they operate in a remote and hazardous environment where physical dynamics and sensing modalities are counterintuitive. An underwater virtual world can comprehensively model all necessary functional characteristics of the real world in real time. This virtual world is designed from the perspective of the robot, enabling realistic AUV evaluation and testing in the laboratory. 3D real-time graphics are our window into the virtual world, enabling multiple observers to visualize complex interactions. A networked architecture enables multiple world components to operate collectively in real time, and also permits world-wide observation and collaboration with other scientists interested in the robot and virtual world.