A powerful software tool developed by a University of Glasgow researcher could help democratise the development of new imaging systems in space.

The open-source tool, called SIMply, was created by Dr George Brydon from Glasgow Uni’s School of Physics and Astronomy, and is capable of accurately modelling the interactions between light, surfaces, lenses and sensors, helping to validate the performance of prototype designs before moving to hardware development.

SIMply, which is available as a free download on the online code repository GitHub, aims to provide scientists and engineers with easy access to a level of sophisticated image simulation that has traditionally been available only to large corporations or other highly-funded R&D organisations with access to specialised tools.

The new tool uses ray-tracing and physical modelling techniques to render scenes accurately based on data provided by the user, and can simulate the noise created by camera sensors, as well as mimic arbitrary lens projections, from pinhole and fisheye to panoramic scanning cameras.

When provided with highly detailed input data, the software can produce images which are visually indistinguishable from real images.

Dr Brydon validated SIMply’s ability to accurately model photographs from space by comparing the simulations it created to images taken by spacecraft of real extraterrestrial surfaces.

He used high-resolution 3D data collected by previous missions to the Moon, the asteroid Itokawa, and the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, to create detailed simulations of the light reflected from their surfaces and captured by the spacecraft’s onboard cameras.

Detailing the findings in a new paper published in Space: Science & Technology, Dr Brydon showed that SIMply can generate highly accurate simulated images by analysing the brightness and visual features of a 2007 Rosetta mission photo of the Moon, successfully replicating its reflectivity, topography, and sensor response.

Recommended reading

• UK Space Sector Clinches Record Contract Wins
• UK’s Space Sector Being “Throttled” by Ongoing Skills Gap, Report Finds
• Scotland Risks Losing Space Sector Edge, Experts Warn

While the paper focuses on SIMply’s ability to model planetary surfaces, the tool’s modelling capability could make it useful for a range of applications in computer vision development, from the development of cameras for use in self-driving cars, to ball-tracking technologies for sports.

“Large companies working on camera development have access to a wide range of powerful tools because they have the resources to make their own software, but those tools remain private and inaccessible to other researchers,” said Dr Brydon.

“My objective in fully developing SIMply using the Python programming language was to make a tool that’s widely accessible to researchers in the planetary science and spacecraft design field. 

“The paper shows clearly how useful it could be for space applications, where the cost of developing hardware and software is so high that there’s a real advantage to using fast, free image simulation to support design and testing. I hope that making it freely available and open-source will enable others to use it for their research and development projects, and facilitate new imaging capabilities.”