Seabed 3D images created by an underwater laser scanner applied to an AUV

There is a possibility that vast amounts of undersea resources are buried beneath Japanese territorial sea. In order to find these undersea resources, a detailed topography including specific objects and events of seabed should be carefully surveyed. One of effective methods for this is to use seabed visualization technologies, which are applied to an autonomous underwater vehicle (AUV). Therefore, Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (JAMSTEC) has been developing two kinds of optical imaging sensors: (1) a stereo vision system and (2) a 3-dimensional underwater laser scanner (3dULS). Currently, the second prototype of 3dULS has been developed and some remarkable results were shown in field tests applying an AUV.