UMINAVI
UmiNavi is how an underwater drone knows where it is when GPS is unavailable. For AquaWiz, it is also the first software story we bring to the front.
01Why GPS fails here
In underwater observation, knowing where each data point came from matters a great deal. But GPS radio waves do not reach underwater. With that reference gone, the vehicle still has to know its own place.
The mainstream approach — acoustic sensors (DVL) — is expensive, putting it out of reach for individual developers and small teams. That was where UmiNavi began.
Let an underwater drone know its own position where GPS is unavailable.
Recompose the inputs, and position can still be estimated from a more accessible hardware stack. The next chapter is what that looks like.
02How it is solved
UmiNavi combines Visual-Inertial Odometry (VIO), from a camera and IMU, with depth sensor data. Three inputs converge into one position estimate — that is the diagram.
Sensor-fusion flow
Source: mitoujr-2025
Hover an input, or move through them with the keyboard, and its path into the estimate is highlighted.
Inputs
Camera
Imagery → VIOIMU
Inertial → VIODepth sensor
Depth constraint
Output
Position estimate
Fuses the three inputs to find its own position without GPS.
03Validation
Design and evaluation were pursued with real operation in mind: corrections specific to underwater conditions, and validation under movement that includes turning maneuvers.
Not an ideal, motionless case, but proof that it holds up in motion — the patient accumulation that became the basis for recognition.
What it kept in view
- Env. correction
- Handles underwater-specific conditions
- Motion
- Validated with turning maneuvers
04Recognition
At Mitou Junior 2025, AquaWiz's Matsumoto was selected for the project "UmiNavi" and named a Super Creator.
The recognition reflects the results of design and evaluation aimed at real operation. The project is documented on the official Mitou Junior page.
View on Mitou JuniorRecord
- Project
- UmiNavi
- Recognition
- Mitou Junior 2025 Super Creator
- Lead
- Matsumoto
- Origin
- 2023 — vSLAM research
Where it began — 2023
This did not appear overnight. In 2023, research into vSLAM for underwater self-localization was the starting point for all of it.
Record
- Project
- UmiNavi
- Recognition
- Mitou Junior 2025 Super Creator
- Lead
- Matsumoto
- Origin
- 2023 — vSLAM research
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