Real-time localization and dense mapping in underwater environments from a monocular sequence

In this paper we present an algorithm that estimates in real-time a 3D dense reconstruction of an underwater scene and the vehicle pose, being the only input a monocular image sequence. Our algorithm selects a set of keyframes from a seabed sequence and estimates a depth for every pixel from the information contained in the images using direct mapping methods. The procedure does not require extra sensing input or assumptions about the scene. Our experimental results in a pool and a seabed sequence show that such minimal sensing configuration can achieve a high degree of accuracy.