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Virginia Tech

Supervoxel Based Object Detection and Seafloor Segmentation Using Novel 3d Side-Scan Sonar

Abstract

dc:description.abstract

Object detection and seafloor segmentation for conventional 2D side-scan sonar imagery is a well-investigated problem. However, due to recent advances in sensing technology, the side-scan sonar now produces a true 3D point cloud representation of the seafloor embedded with echo intensity. This creates a need to develop algorithms to process the incoming 3D data for applications such as object detection and segmentation, and an opportunity to leverage advances in 3D point cloud processing developed for terrestrial applications using optical sensors (e.g. LiDAR). A bottleneck in deploying 3D side-scan sonar sensors for online applications is attributed to the complexity in handling large amounts of data which requires higher memory for storing and processing data on embedded computers. The present research aims to improve data processing capabilities on-board autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs). A supervoxel-based framework for over-segmentation and object detection is proposed which reduces a dense point cloud into clusters of similar points in a neighborhood. Supervoxels extracted from the point cloud are then described using feature vectors which are computed using geometry, echo intensity and depth attributes of the constituent points. Unsupervised density based clustering is applied on the feature space to detect objects which appear as outliers.

Degree

thesis:*
Name thesis:degree_name
Master of Science
Level thesis:degree_level
masters
Discipline thesis:degree_discipline
Computer Engineering
Department dc:contributor.department
Electrical and Computer Engineering
Grantor dc:publisher
Virginia Tech
Year dc:date.issued
2021

Author and committee

dc:creator, dc:contributor.*
Author dc:creator
  • Patel, Kushal Girishkumar
Chair dc:contributor.committeechair
  • Woolsey, Craig A.
Committee members dc:contributor.committeemember
  • Abbott, A. Lynn
  • Stilwell, Daniel J.

Subjects

dc:subject × 5

Rights

dc:rights
Statement dc:rights
  • In Copyright
Language dc:language.iso
en

Identifiers

dc:identifier.*
Dc Identifier Other
vt_gsexam:32827
OAI identifier oai:identifier
oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/106641

Chain of custody

source
Harvested from
Virginia Tech
Base URL
vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/oai/request
Last updated
2026-07-22
Source record
OAI-PMH GetRecord
citation

Patel, Kushal Girishkumar. Supervoxel Based Object Detection and Seafloor Segmentation Using Novel 3d Side-Scan Sonar. masters thesis, Virginia Tech, 2021. http://hdl.handle.net/10919/106641