High Frequency 3D-Sonar Imaging for the Inspection of Underwater Constructions

Abstract:
In AUV operations high resolution 3D-Sonars shall provide acoustical information utilized for the detection and classification of anomalies. Therefore, we present the concept of a high resolution 3D imaging sonar system, where the antenna concept is based on a mills cross antenna configuration. The provided beam signals are input of the proposed 3D image formation and shape recognition algorithm. Moreover, efficient noise suppression algorithms are developed and validated by employing multi-beam/multi-aspect imaging. Finally, we indicate that our approach is computationally efficient, robust against noise and allows the application of 2D image processing algorithms for detecting anomalies in underwater constructions.