Obstacle Avoidance Pipeline for a REMUS 100 Using an ISS360 Sonar

Existing obstacle avoidance systems for AUVs require sensors that are large, heavy, expensive, or place other restrictions on vehicle operation. We designed a new obstacle avoidance pipeline around the ISS360, a small, low power, low cost, scanning sonar that leverages existing ROS navigation infrastructure. Because the data from the ISS360 is similar to a planar laser scanner, our pipeline puts the detected objects into the ROS navigation costmap where they can be tracked while the sensor field of view isn’t pointed at them.We designed and manufactured a hull section to mount the ISS360 onto a REMUS 100 AUV, integrated the sonar onto the vehicle electrically and in software, and successfully demonstrated a simple divert behavior using this pipeline. When the vehicle got too close to an occupied square of the costmap, it would autonomously drive away. This was tested in the field by giving the REMUS 100 a mission that drove it towards a dock, which it successfully detected and avoided.