Last week, MAKE ran a post on creating 3D models of buildings using an UAV. I wondered if the same thing could be done using an AUV (autonomous underwater vehicle). So I ran some experiments using our OpenROV! We took a waterproof digital camera to the touch pool at the aquarium in SF and shot a few videos of a starfish. We extracted some stills and used 123D Catch to generate the model seen here.

A longer explanation of the process can be found on the OpenROV blog.

3 Responses to Underwater Photogrammetry Experiments with 123D Catch

  1. MercuryCrest on said:

    Beautiful resolution!

  2. Can you recommend a good program for extracting stills from video files? Preferably Windows compatible…

  3. Hi Dan,
    Sorry, I should have included those details. Pretty low tech – I just paused the video and took screen shots. There’s probably a better way. In fact, that’s the most encouraging aspect of the experiment. It could have EASILY been better, and will be next time.

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