Performance evaluation of underwater vision systems

The article describes a methodology for performance evaluation of vision systems for remotely operated underwater vehicles. The methodology is based on a system approach and uses mathematical models of the aqueous medium where an optical signal propagates, the underwater object image registration system, and the mathematical model of the human visual system. The detection and recognition probabilities of underwater object image at a given registration range are used as performance evaluation indicators of underwater vision systems. The mathematical model of the aqueous medium developed by the authors allows quantitative evaluation of the influence of backscattering interference arising during objects illumination on the underwater vision system performance. The results of numerical experiments presented in the paper illustrate the possibility of using the proposed technique to optimize the underwater object image registration system parameters in order to achieve the required values of detection or recognition probabilities at the given ranges.