A lunar demo with realistic terrain and lighting

[mazm0002]

Feature description

SpaceROS does not currently contain a lunar world, which would be useful given the vast number of robotic missions planned to the Moon in the next few decades. This would allow developers to test and validate their systems in a representative environment. Some particular challenges that systems would face that would be useful to replicate include terrain that might be difficult to traverse and low light conditions on the south pole that cause difficulties to vision systems.

Implementation considerations

Realistic representations of lunar terrain can be achieved using Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) generated by the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter (LOLA). To further enhance the surface quality, detailed textures can be created to accurately simulate how light interacts with the heightmaps and lunar regolith. By incorporating ephemeris data, the position of the Sun in the lunar sky can be adjusted in real-time to reflect various lighting conditions throughout the lunar day. Given that LOLA provides elevation data for numerous regions on the Moon—many of which are potential Artemis landing sites—extensive documentation on how to prepare and utilize custom DEMs and ephemeris data to create tailored lunar environments would be highly beneficial to the community.