{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,23]],"date-time":"2026-04-23T23:12:01Z","timestamp":1776985921179,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":59,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,29]],"date-time":"2025-07-29T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1753747200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["52371331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52371331"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["62033009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["62033009"]}]},{"name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","award":["Z-2024-304-048"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Z-2024-304-048"]}]},{"name":"Artificial Intelligence Promotes Scientific Research Paradigm Reform and Empowers Discipline Advancement Plan from Shanghai Municipal Education Commission","award":["52371331"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["52371331"]}]},{"name":"Artificial Intelligence Promotes Scientific Research Paradigm Reform and Empowers Discipline Advancement Plan from Shanghai Municipal Education Commission","award":["62033009"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["62033009"]}]},{"name":"Artificial Intelligence Promotes Scientific Research Paradigm Reform and Empowers Discipline Advancement Plan from Shanghai Municipal Education Commission","award":["Z-2024-304-048"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["Z-2024-304-048"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Robotics"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Underwater navigation remains constrained by technological limitations, driving the exploration of alternative approaches such as polarized light-based systems. This review systematically examines advances in polarized navigation from three perspectives. First, the principles of atmospheric polarization navigation are analyzed, with their operational mechanisms, advantages, and inherent constraints dissected. Second, innovations in bionic polarization multi-sensor fusion positioning are consolidated, highlighting progress beyond conventional heading-direction extraction. Third, emerging underwater polarization navigation techniques are critically evaluated, revealing that current methods predominantly adapt atmospheric frameworks enhanced by advanced filtering to mitigate underwater interference. A comprehensive synthesis of underwater polarization modeling methodologies is provided, categorizing physical, data-driven, and hybrid approaches. Through rigorous analysis of studies, three persistent barriers are identified: (1) inadequate polarization pattern modeling under dynamic cross-media conditions; (2) insufficient robustness against turbidity-induced noise; (3) immature integration of polarization vision with sonar\/IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit) sensing. Targeted research directions are proposed, including adaptive deep learning models, multi-spectral polarization sensing, and bio-inspired sensor fusion architectures. These insights establish a roadmap for developing reliable underwater navigation systems that transcend current technological boundaries.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/robotics14080104","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,29]],"date-time":"2025-07-29T16:16:10Z","timestamp":1753805770000},"page":"104","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":2,"title":["Underwater Polarized Light Navigation: Current Progress, Key Challenges, and Future Perspectives"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"14","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-3240-909X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Mingzhi","family":"Chen","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-1463-7655","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yuan","family":"Liu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-7252-4952","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Daqi","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Wen","family":"Pang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Jianmin","family":"Zhu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology, Shanghai 200093, China"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,7,29]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Patil, A., Park, M., and Bae, J. 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