Semantic Segmentation and Depth Estimation for Real-Time Lunar Surface Mapping Using 3D Gaussian Splatting

Fuente: arXiv
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Auteurs principaux: Vila, Guillem Casadesus, Dai, Adam, Gao, Grace
Format: Preprint
Publié: 2026
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author Vila, Guillem Casadesus
Dai, Adam
Gao, Grace
author_facet Vila, Guillem Casadesus
Dai, Adam
Gao, Grace
contents Navigation and mapping on the lunar surface require robust perception under challenging conditions, including poorly textured environments, high-contrast lighting, and limited computational resources. This paper presents a real-time mapping framework that integrates dense perception models with a 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) representation. We first benchmark several models on synthetic datasets generated with the LuPNT simulator, selecting a stereo dense depth estimation model based on Gated Recurrent Units for its balance of speed and accuracy in depth estimation, and a convolutional neural network for its superior performance in detecting semantic segments. Using ground truth poses to decouple the local scene understanding from the global state estimation, our pipeline reconstructs a 120-meter traverse with a geometric height accuracy of approximately 3 cm, outperforming a traditional point cloud baseline without LiDAR. The resulting 3DGS map enables novel view synthesis and serves as a foundation for a full SLAM system, where its capacity for joint map and pose optimization would offer significant advantages. Our results demonstrate that combining semantic segmentation and dense depth estimation with learned map representations is an effective approach for creating detailed, large-scale maps to support future lunar surface missions.
format Preprint
id arxiv_https___arxiv_org_abs_2603_18218
institution arXiv
publishDate 2026
record_format arxiv
spellingShingle Semantic Segmentation and Depth Estimation for Real-Time Lunar Surface Mapping Using 3D Gaussian Splatting
Vila, Guillem Casadesus
Dai, Adam
Gao, Grace
Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Robotics
Navigation and mapping on the lunar surface require robust perception under challenging conditions, including poorly textured environments, high-contrast lighting, and limited computational resources. This paper presents a real-time mapping framework that integrates dense perception models with a 3D Gaussian Splatting (3DGS) representation. We first benchmark several models on synthetic datasets generated with the LuPNT simulator, selecting a stereo dense depth estimation model based on Gated Recurrent Units for its balance of speed and accuracy in depth estimation, and a convolutional neural network for its superior performance in detecting semantic segments. Using ground truth poses to decouple the local scene understanding from the global state estimation, our pipeline reconstructs a 120-meter traverse with a geometric height accuracy of approximately 3 cm, outperforming a traditional point cloud baseline without LiDAR. The resulting 3DGS map enables novel view synthesis and serves as a foundation for a full SLAM system, where its capacity for joint map and pose optimization would offer significant advantages. Our results demonstrate that combining semantic segmentation and dense depth estimation with learned map representations is an effective approach for creating detailed, large-scale maps to support future lunar surface missions.
title Semantic Segmentation and Depth Estimation for Real-Time Lunar Surface Mapping Using 3D Gaussian Splatting
topic Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition
Robotics
url https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.18218