Preprint · 2026
Wave-Robust Passive AUV Localization Using FP-MUSIC
With Ola Rønning and Andrzej Wąsowski
Usama Saqib
I am a postdoctoral researcher in the SQUARE group at the IT University of Copenhagen (ITU). I received my Ph.D. in signal processing from Aalborg University, Denmark, in 2021, after an M.Sc. in Embedded Systems Engineering (2015) and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering (2011).
My research lies at the intersection of statistical signal processing, robot audition, and autonomous systems. I develop model-based and learning-based methods that let robots perceive their surroundings through sound, with a focus on acoustic echoes and reflector localization for spatial map construction.
Research
Underwater localization
Where is an underwater vehicle, without anything installed on the seabed?
In this paper, we develop receiver-passive 3-D localization of autonomous underwater vehicles from a floating buoy with a hydrophone array, and I study how odometry should be scored when estimators report their own uncertainty.
Preprint · 2026
You Should Be Properly Scoring Your Odometry
With Ola Rønning and Andrzej Wąsowski
Learning
What can machine learning add to model-based acoustic perception?
We explore machine learning frameworks for acoustic reflector mapping that complement the statistical models developed during my Ph.D.
Preprint · 2024
A Machine Learning framework for Acoustic Reflector Mapping
With L. Marchegiani and J. R. Jensen
Echo estimation
How can a robot recover where sound reflections come from?
In this paper, we estimate times and directions of arrival of acoustic echoes using model-based statistical methods, including expectation-maximization, even in the presence of the robot's own ego-noise.
EURASIP J. Audio, Speech, Music Process. · 2024
Robust Acoustic Reflector Localization using a modified EM algorithm
With M. G. Christensen and J. R. Jensen
Spatial mapping
Can echoes alone build a map of a room?
In this paper, we turn estimated echoes into acoustic reflector positions and spatial maps for robotic platforms, a topic that was also the subject of my Ph.D. thesis.
Robotics and Autonomous Systems · 2021
A Framework for Spatial Map Generation using Acoustic Echoes for Robotic Platforms
With J. R. Jensen
Recent publications
All publications-
2026
Wave-Robust Passive AUV Localization Using FP-MUSIC
arXiv preprint arXiv:2609.27712 [cs.RO], 2026
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2026
You Should Be Properly Scoring Your Odometry
arXiv preprint arXiv:2609.25900 [cs.RO], 2026
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2024
A Machine Learning framework for Acoustic Reflector Mapping
arXiv preprint arXiv:2409.12094 [cs.RO], 2024
Talks
SQuaRe group talk, IT University of Copenhagen: Wave-Robust Passive AUV Localization Using FP-MUSIC (paper).
Conference talk at Robotics Software Engineering 2026 (RSE’26), IRI CSIC-UPC, Barcelona, Spain, in the Underwater Robotics & Control session: Passive 3-D Acoustic Localisation of Underwater Sources Using MUSIC-Guided Matched Filtering on a Wave-Perturbed Hydrophone Array.
Invited by Associate Professor Junaed Sattar, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities, USA, to give a talk on Passive 3D underwater robot localization.
SQuaRe group talk, IT University of Copenhagen: Perceiving the World Through Sound: A Framework for Spatial Map Generation Using Acoustic Echoes (paper).