3-D terrain covering and map building algorithm for an AUV

In order to improve the efficiency of a terrain covering algorithm for a robot (AUV), an artificial island(AI) technique is developed. Such an algorithm is necessary to acquire information and make a terrain map in an unknown three dimensional underwater environment. This algorithm considers that the three dimensional environment consists of a number of planes, at various ocean depths. The artificial island technique has the advantage of reducing the covering path length and the time cost for the robot, because it takes the correlation between every plane. In this paper, the concept of the artificial island technique is presented and its validity is proved under certain conditions. Through various simulations, we validate the efficiency in terms of the total path length and the running time of the AUV. An example of a complete three dimensional map obtained using this technique is provided.