Towards Effective Visual-Inertial SLAM with Passive-Only Sensors for Low-Cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Grant Schwidder; David Widhalm; Junaed Sattar

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arXiv · 2609.21015

Towards Effective Visual-Inertial SLAM with Passive-Only Sensors for Low-Cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicles

Grant Schwidder·David Widhalm·Junaed Sattar

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Abstract

Improvements to Visual-Inertial Simultaneous Localization and Mapping (VI-SLAM) for low-cost autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are critical for transitioning advanced marine robotics from specialized labs to broader research and hobbyist applications. While high-end AUVs typically rely on expensive sensor suites - such as Doppler Velocity Logs (DVLs) and Ultra-Short Baseline (USBL) systems - this work demonstrates that robust, high-quality navigation is achievable using a sub-$10, 000(USD) platform equipped only with inexpensive consumer-grade sensors. By leveraging a similarly priced, open-source AUV, we evaluate the performance of stereo cameras, Micro-electromechanical System (MEMS)-based IMUs, and depth sensors in a fully unconstrained 6-degree-of-freedom (6-DOF) underwater environment. We analyze the efficacy of off-the-shelf SLAM packages and propose optimizations for sensor fusion to mitigate the visual and physical challenges of untethered underwater operation. Our results prove that a usable SLAM solution can be accessible to the masses, providing a benchmark for expectations in demanding, real-time maritime missions without the financial barrier of industrial-grade hardware.

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Grant Schwidder, David Widhalm, Junaed Sattar. 2026-09-17. Towards Effective Visual-Inertial SLAM with Passive-Only Sensors for Low-Cost Autonomous Underwater Vehicles. https://arxiv.org/abs/2609.21015

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