Underwater Time-of-Flight Camera for Remotely Operated Vehicle Applications

This paper describes recent developments in the use of a time-of-flight (ToF) camera for 3D imaging aboard underwater vehicles. We have modified a commercial camera for use underwater with green illuminators and have packaged and deployed this camera as payload aboard a BlueROV2. In this paper, we describe the system hardware, including the 525 nm laser diode illuminator modules, the signal breakout board, and the wide field of view optics. We also show imaging and ranging results from laboratory and field tests with the 3D camera and discuss the challenges introduced by absorption and scattering in turbid water. We show preliminary results from a method for improving imaging in turbid water via backscatter subtraction.