Practical issues and development of underwater 3D laser scanners

Nowadays, 3D laser scanners are widely used in reverse engineering, industrial design, prototyping, quality control etc. Most of these scanners operate in air. Theoretically, this technology can be extended for the development of 3D laser scanners that work in water. In this paper, we describe the development and practical issues of 3D laser scanners required for applications such as underwater oil and gas inspection. Some experimental results are also shown to demonstrate the feasibility and limit of the 3D laser scanners developed.