An integrated environment for fast development and performance assessment of sonar image processing algorithms - SSIE

The sonar simulator integrated environment (SSIE) is a tool for developing high performance processing algorithms for single or sequences of sonar images. The tool is based on MATLAB providing a very short lead time from concept to executable code and thereby assessment of the algorithms tested. SSIE utilizes the graphical user interface facilities readily available in MATLAB making it conceptually easy and fast to operate. These two properties, short implementation time and swiftness of operation, lead to high speed algorithm development. A problem related to testing and hence optimization of the algorithms is the availability of sonar images. To accommodate this problem the SSIE has been equipped with a simulator capable of generating high fidelity sonar images for a given scene of objects, sea-bed AUV path, etc. In the paper the main components of the SSIE is described and examples of different processing steps are given.