3D Site Model
Photorealistic 3D Site Model for Mission Planning
The photorealistic 3D site model is a digital mapping component that generates high-fidelity terrain representations from stereo imagery and LIDAR data for mission planning, maintenance scheduling, and robotic navigation rehearsal. Stored on radiation-hardened NOR flash and consuming 0.5 watts, the software renders triangulated surface meshes of up to 100 million vertices with 5-centimeter texture resolution. To maintain an accurate digital twin across a 100-year mission lifetime exposed to space radiation, it employs an octree structure for storage efficiency and processes continuous, authenticated SLAM updates to map physical site evolution and annotated infrastructure.
Photorealistic 3D site model built from stereo + LIDAR data, used for high-fidelity mission planning, simulation, and operator visualization.
Purpose
Photorealistic 3D site model built from stereo + LIDAR data, used for high-fidelity mission planning, simulation, and operator visualization.
Context
Child of L2-NAV-MAP within the Lunar Ark system
Principles
- ▸Triangulated mesh + photo texture overlay
- ▸Updated continuously from SLAM map
- ▸Per-asset annotations (modules, equipment)
- ▸Used by L1-MNT planning, L1-ROB nav rehearsal
- ▸Streamed to Earth for operator visualization
Typical implementations
- ▸NASA Mars Trek / Moon Trek
- ▸Industrial digital twin (terrestrial)
- ▸AR/VR mission rehearsal
Lunar considerations
- ▸Long-mission digital twin tracks evolution
- ▸Authenticated updates
- ▸Storage efficient with octree representation
Specifications
Functional
| primary function | Photorealistic 3D site model built from stereo + LIDAR data, used for high-fidelity mission planning, simulation, and operator visualization. |
| vertex count m | 100 |
| texture resolution cm | 5 |
Physical
| mass kg | 0 |
| materials | Code on rad-hard NOR flash + L1-DVT |
| vacuum compatibility | True |
Operational
| power consumption w | 0.5 |
| thermal range c | -40, 70 |
| lifetime years | 100 |
| mtbf hours | 500000 |
Interfaces
Provides
- 3D model for maintenance planning
- Operator visualization
Requires
- Continuous SLAM map updates
Cite this entry
Lunar Ark Codex. "3D Site Model" (L3-NAV-MAP-3D). Retrieved 10 September 2026, from https://lunarark.com/entry/L3-NAV-MAP-3D
Licensed CC-BY-SA 4.0. You may reuse and adapt this entry with attribution, under the same licence.