Underwater Remotely Operated Vehicles for fast and low cost bathymetry surveys

Remotely Operated Vehicles (ROVs) are used since 1960s for underwater operations. Depending on its size, a ROV may be used to perform either complex operations (i.e. work-class ROV) or underwater inspections (i.e. inspection class ROV or mini-ROV class). This paper deals with the using of mini-ROVs for environmental monitoring with attention paid to bathymetry surveys. In particular, it aims to propose the system architecture and algorithms to perform reliable and low-cost bathymetry surveys by underwater mini-ROVs.