Underwater Robotics

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Overview

Underwater robotics studies how vehicles and soft or bio-inspired machines move, sense, and perform tasks in environments where visibility, communication, and dynamics are challenging. Work combines cameras, sonar, Doppler velocity logs, and inertial sensors for localization and mapping, with methods such as sensor-fusion SLAM, model-predictive control, reinforcement learning, and multi-robot coordination. Researchers test these approaches in simulators, pools, and field deployments for tasks including seabed inspection, docking, tracking, and manipulation. A central challenge is making systems reliable across changing currents and degraded sensors while transferring models and policies from simulation to real water with limited energy and communication.

Latest papers

CardsList

149 papers14 papers in the last four weeks, down 53% on the four weeks before. 0.1% of all new papers.

  1. An Asynchronous Two-Speed Kalman Filter for Real-Time UUV Cooperative Navigation Under Acoustic Delays

    Apr 3, 2026Shuyue Li, Miguel López-Benítez, Eng Gee Lim +5Kalman FilteringGNSS-Denied Localization

    School of Advanced Technology, Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, Suzhou, China · School of Computer Science and Informatics, University of Liverpool, Liverpool, UK · ARIES Research Centre, Universidad Antonio de Nebrija, Madrid, Spain +3

  2. Diffusion-Guided Cooperative Policy Learning for Target Tracking Based on Underwater Mobile Agent Networks

    Mar 31, 2026Jiaao Ma, Chuan Lin, Guangjie Han +3Cooperative MARLMulti-Robot Coordination

    Software College, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China · Key Laboratory of Maritime Intelligent Network Information Technology, Ministry of Education, Hohai University · College of Computer Science and Software Engineering, Hohai University, Nanjing, 210013, China +1

  3. Multi-AUV Ad-hoc Networks-Based Multi-Target Tracking Based on Scene-Adaptive Embodied Intelligence

    Mar 28, 2026Kai Tian, Jialun Wang, Chuan Lin +4Multi-Object TrackingUnderwater Robotics

    Software College, Northeastern University, Shenyang, China. · Key Laboratory of Maritime Intelligent Network Information Technology, Ministry of Education, Hohai University.

  4. Swim2Real: VLM-Guided System Identification for Sim-to-Real Transfer

    Mar 21, 2026Kevin Qiu, Kyle Walker, Mike Y. Michelis +2Robot System IdentificationSim-to-Real Transfer

    University of Warsaw · IDEAS NCBR · EPFL +2

  5. Towards Versatile Opti-Acoustic Sensor Fusion and Volumetric Mapping

    Mar 15, 2026Ivana Collado-Gonzalez, John McConnell, Brendan EnglotUnderwater 3D ReconstructionUnderwater Robotics

    I. Collado-Gonzalez, and B. Englot are with Stevens Inst. of Technology, Hoboken, NJ, USA · J. McConnell is with the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD, USA

  6. Design of a Bio-Inspired Miniature Submarine for Low-Cost Water Quality Monitoring

    Mar 15, 2026Quang Huy Vu, Quan Le, Manh Duong PhungUnderwater Robotics

    Quang Huy Vu is with HUS High School for Gifted Students, VNU University of Science, Hanoi, 100000, Vietnam. · Quan Le is with Fulbright University Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City, 700000, Vietnam. · Manh Duong Phung is with College of Engineering and Computer Science, VinUniversity, Hanoi, 100000, Vietnam.

  7. Sim-to-reality adaptation for Deep Reinforcement Learning applied to an underwater docking application

    Mar 12, 2026Alaaeddine Chaarani, Narcis Palomeras, Pere RidaoUnderwater RoboticsRL Control

    Authors with the Faculty of Computer Science, Computer Vision and Robotics Research Group (vicorob) Universitat de Girona, 17003 Girona, Spain.

  8. Autonomous Search for Sparsely Distributed Visual Phenomena through Environmental Context Modeling

    Mar 10, 2026Eric Chen, Travis Manderson, Nare Karapetyan +3Underwater RoboticsActive Visual Perception

    Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution · Massachusetts Institute of Technology · Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution +1

  9. Hierarchical Multi-Modal Planning for Fixed-Altitude Sparse Target Search and Sampling

    Mar 9, 2026Lingpeng Chen, Yuchen Zheng, Apple Pui-Yi Chui +2Informative Path PlanningUnderwater Robotics

  10. Unified Structural-Hydrodynamic Modeling of Underwater Underactuated Mechanisms and Soft Robots

    Mar 9, 2026Chenrui Zhang, Yiyuan Zhang, Yunfei Ye +3Robot System IdentificationUnderwater Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering and Advanced Robotics Centre, National University of Singapore, Singapore. · Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART) Centre, 138602, Singapore.

  11. Underwater Embodied Intelligence for Autonomous Robots: A Constraint-Coupled Perspective on Planning, Control, and Deployment

    Mar 8, 2026Jingzehua Xu, Guanwen Xie, Jiwei Tang +2Underwater RoboticsAutonomous Underwater Navigation

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong, China · Tsinghua Shenzhen International Graduate School, Tsinghua University, Shenzhen, 518055, China · Department of Data and Systems Engineering, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong +1

  12. Uncertainty-Aware Adaptive Dynamics For Underwater Vehicle-Manipulator Robots

    Mar 6, 2026Edward Morgan, Nenyi K Dadson, Corina BarbalataRobot Dynamics IdentificationUnderwater Robotics

    The authors are with the Department of Mechanical & Industrial Engineering, at Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA 70803, USA

  13. Data-Driven Control of a Magnetically Actuated Fish-Like Robot

    Mar 5, 2026Akiyuki Koyama, Hiroaki KawashimaRobotic ControlUnderwater Robotics

    Graduate School of Information Science, University of Hyogo, Japan

  14. Swimming Under Constraints: A Safe Reinforcement Learning Framework for Quadrupedal Bio-Inspired Propulsion

    Mar 4, 2026Xinyu Cui, Fei Han, Hang Xu +9Constrained RLUnderwater Robotics

    FSI lab, Westlake University, Hangzhou, 310030, China. · Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China. · School of Artificial Intelligence, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049, China +3

  15. Long-Term Visual Localization in Dynamic Benthic Environments: A Dataset, Footprint-Based Ground Truth, and Visual Place Recognition Benchmark

    Mar 4, 2026Martin Kvisvik Larsen, Oscar PizarroRobot LocalizationVisual Place Recognition

    Department of Marine Technology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway

  16. Passive Phase-Oriented Impedance Shaping for Rapid Acceleration in Soft Robotic Swimmers

    Mar 3, 2026Qimin Feng, Orion A. Roberts, Qiang ZhongRobot LocomotionUnderwater Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA.

  17. Design, Modeling and Direction Control of a Wire-Driven Robotic Fish Based on a 2-DoF Crank-Slider Mechanism

    Mar 3, 2026Yita Wang, Chen Chen, Yicheng Chen +5Robot LocomotionUnderwater Robotics

    Department of Mechanical Engineering, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 113-8656, Japan · Institute of Industrial Science, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, 153-8505, Japan

  18. Wukong-Omni: Design, Modeling and Control of a Multi-mode Robot for Air, Land, and Underwater Exploration with All-in-One Propulsion Unit

    Mar 3, 2026Yufan Liu, Rixi Yu, Junjie Li +7Robot LocomotionRobotic Control

    School of Automation, Guandong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China · School of Electromechanical Engineering, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou, China · Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

  19. Simple Models, Real Swimming: Digital Twins for Tendon-Driven Underwater Robots

    Feb 26, 2026Mike Y. Michelis, Nana Obayashi, Josie Hughes +1Underwater RoboticsRobotics Simulation

    Soft Robotics Lab and ETH AI Center, ETH Zurich, Switzerland · Prema Lab, New York University, USA · CREATE Lab, EPFL, Switzerland

  20. Marinarium: A Modular Experimental Facility for Reproducible Maritime and Space-Analog Field Robotics

    Feb 26, 2026Ignacio Torroba, David Dorner, Victor Nan Fernandez-Ayala +14Space RoboticsRobotics

    Division of Aerospace, Moveability and Naval Architecture, Royal Institute of Technology, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden · Department of Decision and Control Systems, Royal Institute of Technology, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden · Department of Robotics, Perception and Learning, Royal Institute of Technology, 10044 Stockholm, Sweden +1

  21. Autonomous Sea Turtle Robot for Marine Fieldwork

    Feb 24, 2026Zach J. Patterson, Emily Sologuren, Levi Cai +4Underwater RoboticsAutonomous Underwater Navigation

    Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, 44106, USA. · Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, 02139, USA. · Applied Ocean Physics and Engineering Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, Woods Hole, 02543, USA. +1

  22. Cross domain Persistent Monitoring for Hybrid Aerial Underwater Vehicles

    Feb 23, 2026Ricardo B. Grando, Victor A. Kich, Alisson H. Kolling +3RoboticsUnderwater Robotics

  23. Hydrodynamic Performance Enhancement of Unmanned Underwater Gliders with Soft Robotic Morphing Wings for Agility Improvement

    Feb 23, 2026A. Giordano, G. De Meurichy, V. Telazzi +6Underwater RoboticsSoft Robotics

    Laboratory of Sustainability Robotics, Empa, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. · Department of Aeronautics, Imperial College London, SW7 2AZ London, United Kingdom. · Laboratory for Computational Engineering, Empa, 8600 Dübendorf, Switzerland. +2

  24. StereoAdapter-2: Globally Structure-Consistent Underwater Stereo Depth Estimation

    Feb 18, 2026Zeyu Ren, Xiang Li, Yiran Wang +2Depth EstimationStereo Vision

    The University of Melbourne · Peking University · Australian Centre for Robotics

  25. Docking and Persistent Operations for a Resident Underwater Vehicle

    Feb 18, 2026Leonard Günzel, Gabrielė Kasparavičiūtė, Ambjørn Grimsrud Waldum +6Underwater RoboticsAutonomous Underwater Navigation

    Applied Underwater Robotics Lab NTNU Trondheim, Norway

  26. SurfSLAM: Sim-to-Real Underwater Stereo Reconstruction For Real-Time SLAM

    Jan 15, 2026Onur Bagoren, Seth Isaacson, Sacchin Sundar +6Simultaneous Localization and MappingMetric Depth Estimation

    Department of Robotics, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA

  27. Sim2Swim: Zero-Shot Velocity Control for Agile AUV Maneuvering in 3 Minutes

    Dec 9, 2025Lauritz Rismark Fosso, Herman Biørn Amundsen, Marios Xanthidis +1RL ControlSim-to-Real Transfer

    SINTEF Ocean, Trondheim, Norway

  28. A Collaborative Reasoning Framework for Anomaly Diagnostics in Underwater Robotics

    Nov 4, 2025Markus Buchholz, Niamh Ellis, Rahaf Abu Hara +2RoboticsHuman-in-the-Loop AI

    School of Engineering & Physical Sciences, Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh, UK

  29. Spatiotemporal Calibration of Doppler Velocity Logs for Underwater Robots

    Oct 28, 2025Hongxu Zhao, Guangyang Zeng, Yunling Shao +2Underwater RoboticsMAP Estimation

    The School of Data Science, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, Shenzhen, P. R. China.