Master's Thesis - Revision history

René Schwarz at 14:40, 8 September 2013

2013-09-08T14:40:16Z

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	=== Local Solar Illumination Angle Determination ===		=== Local Solar Illumination Angle Determination ===

	[[~~Datei~~:Moon Surface-Local Illuminance Flow Determination1.png\|~~miniatur~~\|300px\|~~links~~\|Visualization of the local solar illumination angle on an example rendering of the newly developed software.]]		[[File:Moon Surface-Local Illuminance Flow Determination1.png\|thumb\|300px\|left\|Visualization of the local solar illumination angle on an example rendering of the newly developed software.]]
	[[~~Datei~~:Moon Surface-Local Illuminance Flow Determination2.png\|~~miniatur~~\|300px\|~~rechts~~\|Visualization of the local solar illumination angle on an example rendering of the newly developed software at a high flight altitude.]]		[[File:Moon Surface-Local Illuminance Flow Determination2.png\|thumb\|300px\|right\|Visualization of the local solar illumination angle on an example rendering of the newly developed software at a high flight altitude.]]

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René Schwarz at 14:54, 23 July 2013

2013-07-23T14:54:01Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:54, 23 July 2013
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	{\| style="width: 100%;"		{\| style="width: 100%;"
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	\| rowspan="2" \| [[File:Cover_BOOK_9783848216284_Schwarz,_Rene_-_Master's_Thesis_(Moon_Surface_Illumination_Simulation_Framework).jpg\|250px]]		\| rowspan="3" \| [[File:Cover_BOOK_9783848216284_Schwarz,_Rene_-_Master's_Thesis_(Moon_Surface_Illumination_Simulation_Framework).jpg\|250px]]
	\| colspan="3" style="padding-left: 25px; vertical-align: middle;" \| {{sc\|Schwarz}}, René: ''<u>Development of an illumination simulation software for the Moon’s surface: An approach to illumination direction estimation on pictures of solid planetary surfaces with a significant number of craters</u>''. Master’s Thesis, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, German Aerospace Center (DLR). Books on Demand, Norderstedt, Germany, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8482-1628-4.		\| colspan="3" style="padding-left: 25px; vertical-align: middle;" \| {{sc\|Schwarz}}, René: ''<u>Development of an illumination simulation software for the Moon’s surface: An approach to illumination direction estimation on pictures of solid planetary surfaces with a significant number of craters</u>''. Master’s Thesis, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, German Aerospace Center (DLR). Books on Demand, Norderstedt, Germany, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8482-1628-4.
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	\| style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://www.amazon.com/dp/3848216280 Buy this book<br />on Amazon.com]		\| style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://www.amazon.com/dp/3848216280 Buy this book<br />on Amazon.com]
	\| style="padding-right: 25px; text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://www.amazon.de/dp/3848216280 Buy this book<br />on Amazon.de]		\| style="padding-right: 25px; text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://www.amazon.de/dp/3848216280 Buy this book<br />on Amazon.de]
			\|-
			\| style="padding-left: 25px; vertical-align: middle;" colspan="3" \| Although this book is available as free download, I would be delighted if you consider to also buy a paperback copy over the book trade as this supports my scientific work.
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	\|}		\|}

René Schwarz at 14:28, 23 July 2013

2013-07-23T14:28:10Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:28, 23 July 2013
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	~~{{Info\|~~		== Publication ==
	'''The work on my master's thesis is finished'''; the thesis has been reviewed and my final oral exam is over. Currently, I'm preparing to publish the thesis as book in summer 2012. In addition, the digital version of this book will be available here as e-book for download free of charge (the book is published under a free license).

	~~Until this point~~ of ~~time this page is used~~ for a ~~sneak preview~~ of ~~the thesis contents and results~~. ~~This page is subject to change over time~~.		{\| style="width: 100%;"
	}}		\|-
			\| rowspan="2" \| [[File:Cover_BOOK_9783848216284_Schwarz,_Rene_-_Master's_Thesis_(Moon_Surface_Illumination_Simulation_Framework).jpg\|250px]]
			\| colspan="3" style="padding-left: 25px; vertical-align: middle;" \| {{sc\|Schwarz}}, René: ''<u>Development of an illumination simulation software for the Moon’s surface: An approach to illumination direction estimation on pictures of solid planetary surfaces with a significant number of craters</u>''. Master’s Thesis, Merseburg University of Applied Sciences, German Aerospace Center (DLR). Books on Demand, Norderstedt, Germany, 2012. ISBN 978-3-8482-1628-4.
			\|-
			\| style="padding-left: 25px; text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://downloads.rene-schwarz.com/dc/file/24 Download this book<br />as PDF file<br />for free]
			\| style="text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://www.amazon.com/dp/3848216280 Buy this book<br />on Amazon.com]
			\| style="padding-right: 25px; text-align: center; font-size: 130%; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: middle;" \| [http://www.amazon.de/dp/3848216280 Buy this book<br />on Amazon.de]
			\|-
			\|}


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	== ~~Previews~~ ==		== Supplemental Materials ==

	=== Video: Copernicus crater during sundown ===		=== Video: Copernicus crater during sundown ===

René Schwarz at 08:04, 11 June 2012

2012-06-11T08:04:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 08:04, 11 June 2012
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	{{Info\|		{{Info\|
	'''The work on my master's thesis is ~~ongoing~~'''; ~~the deadline is set to April 9, 2012. Once~~ the thesis ~~have~~ been reviewed and my final oral exam is over, the thesis ~~will be published~~ as book in ~~spring~~ 2012. In addition, the digital version of this book will be available here as e-book for download free of charge (the book is published under a free license).		'''The work on my master's thesis is finished'''; the thesis has been reviewed and my final oral exam is over. Currently, I'm preparing to publish the thesis as book in summer 2012. In addition, the digital version of this book will be available here as e-book for download free of charge (the book is published under a free license).

	Until this point of time this page is used for a sneak preview of the thesis contents and results. This page is subject to change over time.		Until this point of time this page is used for a sneak preview of the thesis contents and results. This page is subject to change over time.
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	== Thesis Background and Contents (Abstract) ==		== Thesis Background and Contents (Abstract) ==

	The exploration of the solar system over the last decades has broadened our knowledge and understanding of the universe and our place in it. Great scientific and technological achievements have been made, allowing us to study faraway places in the solar system. The ~~world's~~ space agencies are now facing a new era of continuing space exploration in the 21st century, expanding permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit for the first time. To pursue this goal, the development of advanced technologies is more urgent than ever before.		The exploration of the solar system over the last decades has broadened our knowledge and understanding of the universe and our place in it. Great scientific and technological achievements have been made, allowing us to study faraway places in the solar system. The world’s space agencies are now facing a new era of continuing space exploration in the 21st century, expanding permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit for the first time. To pursue this goal, the development of advanced technologies is more urgent than ever before.

	One key technology for future human and robotic missions to places distant from Earth will be a system for autonomous navigation and landing of spacecraft, since nowadays navigation systems rely on Earth-based navigation techniques (tracking, trajectory modeling, commanding). A promising approach involves optical navigation technologies, which can operate completely ~~independent from~~ Earth, allowing a surface-relative navigation and landing on celestial bodies without human intervention.		One key technology for future human and robotic missions to places distant from Earth will be a system for autonomous navigation and landing of spacecraft, since nowadays navigation systems rely on Earth-based navigation techniques (tracking, trajectory modeling, commanding). A promising approach involves optical navigation technologies, which can operate completely independently of Earth-based support, allowing a surface-relative navigation and landing on celestial bodies without human intervention.

	The [http://www.dlr.de/en German Aerospace Center (DLR)] is developing a new, holistic optical navigation system for all stages of an approach and landing procedure within the [http://www.dlr.de/irs/de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-6657/10924_read-24821/ ATON project (Autonomous Terrain based Optical Navigation)]. The central feature of this new navigation system is ~~the~~ landmark-based navigation. Commonly, craters are used as landmarks, as they exhibit very characteristic shapes and they are stable over the long term with respect to shape, structure and positioning. However, the flawless perception of these surface features by computers is a non-trivial task.		The [http://www.dlr.de/en German Aerospace Center (DLR)] is developing a new, holistic optical navigation system for all stages of an approach and landing procedure within the [http://www.dlr.de/irs/de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-6657/10924_read-24821/ ATON project (Autonomous Terrain based Optical Navigation)]. The central feature of this new navigation system is its landmark-based navigation. Commonly, craters are used as landmarks, as they exhibit very characteristic shapes and they are stable over the long term with respect to shape, structure and positioning. However, the flawless perception of these surface features by computers is a non-trivial task.

	[http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=6046676 A new edge-free, scale-, pose- and illumination-invariant crater detection algorithm] is developed for ATON, which will do away with the limitations of current algorithms. To promote further development, the possibility of generating realistic surface images of celestial bodies with a significant number of craters and with well-known local illumination conditions is essential, as well as a technique for estimating illumination direction on these images. To date, no software exists to generate artificial renderings of realistically illuminated planetary surfaces while ~~determinating~~ the illumination direction.		[http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=6046676 A new edge-free, scale-, pose- and illumination-invariant crater detection algorithm] is developed for ATON, which will do away with the limitations of current algorithms. To promote further development, the possibility of generating realistic surface images of celestial bodies with a significant number of craters and with well-known local illumination conditions is essential, as well as a technique for estimating the local illumination direction on these images. To date, no software exists to generate artificial renderings of realistically illuminated planetary surfaces while determining the local solar illumination direction.

	Having said this, the objective of this thesis is the development of a surface illumination simulation ~~sofware~~ for solid planetary surfaces with a significant number of craters, whereas all work has been done in the context of the Moon. The thesis work has led to the development of the ''Moon Surface Illumination Simulation Framework'' (MSISF), which is ~~able~~ to produce realistic renderings of the entire ~~lunar~~ surface while ~~altering illumination~~ conditions~~. It maintains a global digital elevation model (DEM) of the Moon~~, ~~using~~ the ~~latest data sets from~~ the ~~ongoing [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html NASA ''Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (LRO)] mission~~.		Having said this, the objective of this thesis is the development of a surface illumination simulation software for solid planetary surfaces with a significant number of craters, whereas all work has been done in the context of the Moon. The thesis work has led to the development of the ''Moon Surface Illumination Simulation Framework'' (MSISF), which is the first software known to produce realistic renderings of the entire Moon’s surface from virtually every viewpoint, while simultaneously generating machine-readable information regarding the exactly known parameters for the environmental conditions, such as the local solar illumination angle for every pixel of a rendering showing a point on the Moon’s surface.

	With the MSISF, a basis has been established for the further development of the new crater detection algorithm as well as the ~~illumination direction~~ estimation on pictures of solid planetary surfaces. The database of the MSISF has even been prepared for digital elevation models of other celestial bodies, for example, Mars or asteroids. This way, the MSISF is able to produce pictures of other planetary surfaces, too — assuming the existence of appropriate digital elevation models.		To produce its renderings, the MSISF maintains a global digital elevation model (DEM) of the Moon, using the latest data sets from the ongoing [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html NASA ''Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (LRO)] mission. The MSISF has also demonstrated its ability to not only produce single renderings, but also whole series of renderings corresponding to a virtual flight trajectory or landing on the Moon. This thesis shows how these renderings will be produced and how they will be suitable for the development and testing of new optical navigation algorithms. The MSISF can also be modified for the rendering of other celestial bodies.

			With the MSISF, a basis has been established for the further development of the new DLR crater detection algorithm as well as for the illuminance flow estimation on pictures of solid planetary surfaces.

René Schwarz at 14:17, 6 March 2012

2012-03-06T14:17:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:17, 6 March 2012
Line 37:		Line 37:
	== Thesis Background and Contents (Abstract) ==		== Thesis Background and Contents (Abstract) ==

	The exploration of the solar system over the last decades broadened our knowledge and understanding of the universe and our place in it. Great scientific and technological achievements have been made, allowing us to study faraway places in the solar system. The world's space agencies are now facing a new era of continuing space exploration in the 21st century, expanding permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit for the first time. ~~Pursuing~~ this goal, the development of advanced technologies ~~urges~~ more than ever before.		The exploration of the solar system over the last decades has broadened our knowledge and understanding of the universe and our place in it. Great scientific and technological achievements have been made, allowing us to study faraway places in the solar system. The world's space agencies are now facing a new era of continuing space exploration in the 21st century, expanding permanent human presence beyond low Earth orbit for the first time. To pursue this goal, the development of advanced technologies is more urgent than ever before.

	One key technology for future human and robotic missions to distant ~~places~~ from Earth will be ~~the ability of an~~ autonomous navigation and landing of spacecraft, since nowadays navigation systems rely on Earth based navigation techniques (tracking, trajectory modeling, commanding). A promising approach ~~are~~ optical navigation technologies, which can operate completely independent from Earth, allowing a surface-relative navigation and landing on celestial bodies without human intervention.		One key technology for future human and robotic missions to places distant from Earth will be a system for autonomous navigation and landing of spacecraft, since nowadays navigation systems rely on Earth-based navigation techniques (tracking, trajectory modeling, commanding). A promising approach involves optical navigation technologies, which can operate completely independent from Earth, allowing a surface-relative navigation and landing on celestial bodies without human intervention.

	The [http://www.dlr.de/en German Aerospace Center (DLR)] is developing a new, holistic optical navigation system for all stages of an approach and landing procedure within the [http://www.dlr.de/irs/de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-6657/10924_read-24821/ ATON project (Autonomous Terrain based Optical Navigation)]. ~~Central point~~ of this new navigation system is the landmark based navigation. Commonly, craters are used as landmarks, as they exhibit very characteristic shapes and they are long~~-time steady in~~ shape, ~~struture~~ and positioning. However, the flawless perception of ~~those~~ surface features by computers is a non-trivial task.		The [http://www.dlr.de/en German Aerospace Center (DLR)] is developing a new, holistic optical navigation system for all stages of an approach and landing procedure within the [http://www.dlr.de/irs/de/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-6657/10924_read-24821/ ATON project (Autonomous Terrain based Optical Navigation)]. The central feature of this new navigation system is the landmark-based navigation. Commonly, craters are used as landmarks, as they exhibit very characteristic shapes and they are stable over the long term with respect to shape, structure and positioning. However, the flawless perception of these surface features by computers is a non-trivial task.

	[http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=6046676 A new edge-free, scale-, pose- and illumination-invariant crater detection algorithm] is developed for ATON, which will ~~cut~~ away ~~incisive~~ limitations of current algorithms. To ~~push on~~ further development, a possibility ~~to generate~~ realistic surface images with well-known illumination conditions as well as a technique for ~~the estimation of the~~ illumination direction on ~~those pictures is essential~~. To date, ~~an applicable~~ software ~~for the generation of~~ artificial renderings of realistically illuminated planetary surfaces while determinating the illumination direction ~~is missing~~.		[http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=6046676 A new edge-free, scale-, pose- and illumination-invariant crater detection algorithm] is developed for ATON, which will do away with the limitations of current algorithms. To promote further development, the possibility of generating realistic surface images of celestial bodies with a significant number of craters and with well-known local illumination conditions is essential, as well as a technique for estimating illumination direction on these images. To date, no software exists to generate artificial renderings of realistically illuminated planetary surfaces while determinating the illumination direction.

	~~Said~~ this, the objective of this thesis ~~was~~ the development of a surface illumination simulation sofware for planetary ~~solid~~ surfaces with a significant ~~amount~~ of craters, whereas all work has been done in the context of the Moon. The thesis work ~~lead~~ to the development of the Moon Surface Illumination Simulation Framework (MSISF), which is able to produce realistic renderings of the entire lunar surface while altering illumination conditions. It maintains a global digital elevation model of the Moon, using latest data sets from the ongoing [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html NASA Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO)] mission.		Having said this, the objective of this thesis is the development of a surface illumination simulation sofware for solid planetary surfaces with a significant number of craters, whereas all work has been done in the context of the Moon. The thesis work has led to the development of the ''Moon Surface Illumination Simulation Framework'' (MSISF), which is able to produce realistic renderings of the entire lunar surface while altering illumination conditions. It maintains a global digital elevation model (DEM) of the Moon, using the latest data sets from the ongoing [http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/LRO/main/index.html NASA ''Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter'' (LRO)] mission.

	With the MSISF, a basis for the further development of the new crater detection algorithm as well as the illumination direction estimation on pictures of planetary ~~solid~~ surfaces has been ~~established~~.		With the MSISF, a basis has been established for the further development of the new crater detection algorithm as well as the illumination direction estimation on pictures of solid planetary surfaces. The database of the MSISF has even been prepared for digital elevation models of other celestial bodies, for example, Mars or asteroids. This way, the MSISF is able to produce pictures of other planetary surfaces, too — assuming the existence of appropriate digital elevation models.

René Schwarz at 14:13, 6 March 2012

2012-03-06T14:13:26Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:13, 6 March 2012
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	{{Info\|		{{Info\|
	'''The work on my master's thesis is ongoing'''; the deadline is set to ~~March 12~~, 2012. Once the thesis have been reviewed and my final oral exam is over, the thesis will be published as book in spring 2012. In addition, the digital version of this book will be available here as e-book for download free of charge (the book is published under a free license).		'''The work on my master's thesis is ongoing'''; the deadline is set to April 9, 2012. Once the thesis have been reviewed and my final oral exam is over, the thesis will be published as book in spring 2012. In addition, the digital version of this book will be available here as e-book for download free of charge (the book is published under a free license).

	Until this point of time this page is used for a sneak preview of the thesis contents and results. This page is subject to change over time.		Until this point of time this page is used for a sneak preview of the thesis contents and results. This page is subject to change over time.

René Schwarz at 14:35, 25 February 2012

2012-02-25T14:35:57Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:35, 25 February 2012
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	'''Some words on the complexity:'''<br />		'''Some words on the complexity:'''<br />
	All calculations and renderings are done on a single standard machine in 25 hours. The MSISF pattern repository is 125 GiB large, consisting of 265 million vertices for the highest resolution of 64 pixels per degree. Notwithstanding that resolutions till 1024 pixels per degree (corresponds to 29.6 m/pixel) are currently available from NASA LRO LOLA, 64 pixels per degree is pretty much the limit for computability on standard personal computers (my system configuration: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4x 2.4 GHz, 16 GB G.Skill RAM DDR2-800).		All calculations and renderings are done on a single standard machine in 25 hours. The MSISF pattern repository is 125 GiB large, consisting of 265 million vertices for the highest resolution of 64 pixels per degree. Notwithstanding that resolutions till 1024 pixels per degree (corresponds to 29.6 m/pixel) are currently available from NASA LRO LOLA, 64 pixels per degree is pretty much the limit for computability on standard personal computers (my system configuration: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4x 2.4 GHz, 16 GB G.Skill RAM DDR2-800).


			=== Local Solar Illumination Angle Determination ===

			[[Datei:Moon Surface-Local Illuminance Flow Determination1.png\|miniatur\|300px\|links\|Visualization of the local solar illumination angle on an example rendering of the newly developed software.]]
			[[Datei:Moon Surface-Local Illuminance Flow Determination2.png\|miniatur\|300px\|rechts\|Visualization of the local solar illumination angle on an example rendering of the newly developed software at a high flight altitude.]]

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René Schwarz at 10:06, 25 January 2012

2012-01-25T10:06:11Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 10:06, 25 January 2012
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	All calculations and renderings are done on a single standard machine in 25 hours. The MSISF pattern repository is 125 GiB large, consisting of 265 million vertices for the highest resolution of 64 pixels per degree. Notwithstanding that resolutions till 1024 pixels per degree (corresponds to 29.6 m/pixel) are currently available from NASA LRO LOLA, 64 pixels per degree is pretty much the limit for computability on standard personal computers (my system configuration: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4x 2.4 GHz, 16 GB G.Skill RAM DDR2-800).		All calculations and renderings are done on a single standard machine in 25 hours. The MSISF pattern repository is 125 GiB large, consisting of 265 million vertices for the highest resolution of 64 pixels per degree. Notwithstanding that resolutions till 1024 pixels per degree (corresponds to 29.6 m/pixel) are currently available from NASA LRO LOLA, 64 pixels per degree is pretty much the limit for computability on standard personal computers (my system configuration: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4x 2.4 GHz, 16 GB G.Skill RAM DDR2-800).

			{{FBSocial}}
	{{~~Discussion~~}}
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René Schwarz at 23:56, 24 January 2012

2012-01-24T23:56:58Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:56, 24 January 2012
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	{{Discussion}}		{{Discussion}}
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René Schwarz at 23:52, 24 January 2012

2012-01-24T23:52:01Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 23:52, 24 January 2012
Line 71:		Line 71:
	'''Some words on the complexity:'''<br />		'''Some words on the complexity:'''<br />
	All calculations and renderings are done on a single standard machine in 25 hours. The MSISF pattern repository is 125 GiB large, consisting of 265 million vertices for the highest resolution of 64 pixels per degree. Notwithstanding that resolutions till 1024 pixels per degree (corresponds to 29.6 m/pixel) are currently available from NASA LRO LOLA, 64 pixels per degree is pretty much the limit for computability on standard personal computers (my system configuration: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4x 2.4 GHz, 16 GB G.Skill RAM DDR2-800).		All calculations and renderings are done on a single standard machine in 25 hours. The MSISF pattern repository is 125 GiB large, consisting of 265 million vertices for the highest resolution of 64 pixels per degree. Notwithstanding that resolutions till 1024 pixels per degree (corresponds to 29.6 m/pixel) are currently available from NASA LRO LOLA, 64 pixels per degree is pretty much the limit for computability on standard personal computers (my system configuration: Intel Core2 Quad Q6600 4x 2.4 GHz, 16 GB G.Skill RAM DDR2-800).


			{{Discussion}}