UNDERWATER PLATFORM WITH LIDAR AND RELATED METHODS

摘要

Systems and methods for conducting autonomous underwater inspections of subsea and other underwater structures using a 3D laser mounted on an underwater platform such as AUV, an ROV or a tripod. The systems and methods described herein can be used for scanning underwater structures to gain a better understanding of the underwater structures, such as for example, for the purpose of avoiding collision of an underwater vehicle with the underwater structures and for directing inspection, repair, and manipulation of the underwater structures.

主权项

1. A method comprising:
directing at least one laser beam pulse from a laser that is mounted on an underwater platform toward an underwater structure; detecting light that is reflected from the underwater structure using a light detector mounted on the underwater platform; generating at least one data point cloud from the detected light, each data point cloud being suitable for generating a scanned three-dimensional virtual model of the underwater structure; and aligning data points in at least one of the data point clouds to a pre-existing three dimensional virtual model of the underwater structure.