title: Design and Experimental Validation of a USBL Underwater Acoustic Positioning System.
abstract: This paper presents the steps for developing a low-cost POrtableNavigation Tool for Underwater Scenarios (PONTUS) to be used as a localization device for subsea targets. PONTUS consists of an integrated ultra-short baseline acoustic positioning system aided by an inertial navigation system. Built on a practical design, it can be mounted on an underwater robotic vehicle or be operated by a scuba diver. It also features a graphical user interface that provides information on the tracking of the designated target, in addition to some details on the physical properties inside PONTUS. A full disclosure of the architecture of the tool is first presented, followed by thorough technical descriptions of the hardware components ensemble and the software development process. A series of experiments was carried out to validate the developed prototype, and the results are presented herein, which allow assessing its overall performance.
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macao, China. joelreis@umac.mo.|Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal. joelreis@umac.mo.
authors.forename: Joel
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Reis
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal. marco.m.morgado@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Marco
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Morgado
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal. pbatista@isr.tecnico.ulisboa.pt.
authors.forename: Pedro
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Batista
authors.affiliation: Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal. pjcro@isr.ist.utl.pt.|LAETA-Associated Laboratory for Energy, Transports and Aeronautics, IDMEC-Institute of Mechanical Engineering, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal. pjcro@isr.ist.utl.pt.
authors.forename: Paulo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Oliveira
authors.affiliation: Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Science and Technology, University of Macau, Macao, China. csilvestre@umac.mo.|Institute for Systems and Robotics, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Lisboa 1049-001, Portugal. csilvestre@umac.mo.
authors.forename: Carlos
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Silvestre
keywords: acoustic localization; spread spectrum modulation; underwater Ultra-Short BaseLine (USBL) system