# Design, Implementation and Evaluation of an External Pose-Tracking System for Underwater Cameras

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2305.04226 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2305.04226/

## Key facts

- Cited by 2 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 39 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 7 May 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 4 of 4)

- [A General Optimization-based Framework for Local Odometry Estimation with Multiple Sensors](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1901.03638/) (2019)
- [Robotic Testbed for Rendezvous and Optical Navigation: Multi-Source Calibration and Machine Learning Use Cases](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.05529/) (2021)
- [An Elementary Introduction to Kalman Filtering](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1710.04055/) (2017)
- [Refractive Geometry for Underwater Domes](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2108.06575/) (2021)

## Built on by (most cited first, 2 of 2)

- [Investigation of the Challenges of Underwater-Visual-Monocular-SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2306.08738/) (2023)
- [BALTIC: A Benchmark and Cross-Domain Strategy for 3D Reconstruction Across Air and Underwater Domains Under Varying Illumination](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2604.19133/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

In order to advance underwater computer vision and robotics from lab environments and clear water scenarios to the deep dark ocean or murky coastal waters, representative benchmarks and realistic datasets with ground truth information are required. In particular, determining the camera pose is essential for many underwater robotic or photogrammetric applications and known ground truth is mandatory to evaluate the performance of e.g., simultaneous localization and mapping approaches in such extreme environments. This paper presents the conception, calibration and implementation of an external reference system for determining the underwater camera pose in real-time. The approach, based on an HTC Vive tracking system in air, calculates the underwater camera pose by fusing the poses of two controllers tracked above the water surface of a tank. It is shown that the mean deviation of this approach to an optical marker based reference in air is less than 3 mm and 0.3 deg. Finally, the usability of the system for underwater applications is demonstrated.