3D Reconstruction from Underwater Video

Robotic underwater inspection is a growing industry, as many submerged assets require inspection and maintenance in areas that are out of reach for divers. The state of the art is video inspection by a remotely operated vehicle. Because of poor visibility the result is often long, close-up videos that are difficult to interpret. 2G Robotics is pioneering an underwater inspection technology that will automatically build a full-colour CAD model of a submerged asset using only the inspection video. This software will provide inspection technicians with an intuitive 3D representation of the asset that they can zoom and rotate in order to take in the asset as a whole or easily inspect sections of interest in detail. Less technician time will be spent reviewing hours of video, and more will be spent understanding the asset’s state and required maintenance. Less expensive, more accurate underwater inspection will be made possible.

Faculty Supervisor:

Dr. David Clausi and Dr. Paul Fieguth

Student:

Neil Cavan

Partner:

2G robotics Inc.

Discipline:

Engineering

Sector:

Information and communications technologies

University:

University of Waterloo