# A Sonar-based AUV Positioning System for Underwater Environments with Low Infrastructure Density

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2405.01971 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2405.01971/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 4 of its 39 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 3 May 2024.

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

- [Attention Is All You Need](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1706.03762/) (2017)
- [Overhead Image Factors for Underwater Sonar-based SLAM](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2202.05811/) (2022)
- [A rasterized ray-tracer pipeline for real-time, multi-device sonar simulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2001.03539/) (2020)
- [Improving Generalization of Synthetically Trained Sonar Image Descriptors for Underwater Place Recognition](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.01058/) (2023)

## Abstract (arXiv)

The increasing demand for underwater vehicles highlights the necessity for robust localization solutions in inspection missions. In this work, we present a novel real-time sonar-based underwater global positioning algorithm for AUVs (Autonomous Underwater Vehicles) designed for environments with a sparse distribution of human-made assets. Our approach exploits two synergistic data interpretation frontends applied to the same stream of sonar data acquired by a multibeam Forward-Looking Sonar (FSD). These observations are fused within a Particle Filter (PF) either to weigh more particles that belong to high-likelihood regions or to solve symmetric ambiguities. Preliminary experiments carried out on a simulated environment resembling a real underwater plant provided promising results. This work represents a starting point towards future developments of the method and consequent exhaustive evaluations also in real-world scenarios.