We consider the use of visual target tracking for
autonomous steering of an underwater robot. In this context, we
consider a performance comparison for three key visual tracking
algorithms used for servo control. We present a comparative
study of the performance in underwater environments of three
tracking algorithms that are widely used in vision applications.
Variations in illumination, suspended particles and a resulting
reduction in visibility hinders vision systems from performing
satisfactorily in marine environments; at least not as well as
they do in terrestrial (i.e. non-underwater) surroundings. Our
work focuses on quantitatively measuring the performance of
three color-based tracking algorithms– color blob tracker, color
histogram tracker and mean-shift tracker, in tracking objects
underwater in different levels lighting and visibility. We also
present results demonstrating the effect of suspended particles
underwater, and in conclusion we summarize the three tracking
algorithms by comparing their pros and cons.