Underwater 3D Mapping: Experiences and Lessons learned

This paper provides details on the development of a tool to aid in 3D coral reef mapping designed to be operated by a single diver and later integrated into an autonomous robot. We discuss issues that influence the deployment and development of underwater sensor technology for 6DOF hand-held and robotic mapping. We describe our current underwater vision-based mapping system, some of our experiences, lessons learned, and discuss how this knowledge is being incorporated into our underwater sensor.