Terrain Intelligence Generator (TIG)

Open source stereo terrain reconstruction pipeline using NASA's VICAR image processing system.

Overview

TIG provides a Docker-based execution environment for generating 3D terrain meshes from stereo camera images. Built on VICAR (Video Image Communication and Retrieval), NASA JPL's image processing system used across planetary missions. The vicar-native-toolkit provides a helper/wrapper script to interact with the TIG container.

Features

• Stereo Correlation: Generate disparity maps from stereo image pairs (marscorr, marscor3)
• 3D Point Clouds: Convert disparity to XYZ coordinates (marsxyz)
• Mesh Generation: Create textured 3D surface meshes in OBJ / OpenInventor formats (marsmesh)
• Image Conversion: Convert VICAR images to PNG / JPEG / TIFF (vicario)
• VISOR Calibration: Integrates with VISOR (VICAR Institutional Stereo Observation Repository) containing M20 and many other open source mission calibrations
• Open Source: Community-accessible VICAR-based terrain processing

Quick Start

Option 1: Automated Native Toolkit (Recommended)

Get native-like VICAR commands in one step:

cd vicar-native-toolkit
make bootstrap
# ✓ Pulls Docker image
# ✓ Starts container  
# ✓ Creates ~550 command wrappers
# ✓ Ready in <30 seconds

# Now use VICAR commands directly
gen out=test.img nl=10 ns=10
toolkit-status

See vicar-native-toolkit/README.md for details.

Option 2: Run Mesh Generation Demo

# Pull the Docker image
docker pull ghcr.io/nasa-ammos/tig/terrain-intelligence-generator:opensource

# Run NavCam mesh generation demo
./demo-mesh-generation-with-xyz.sh \
  --stereo-left /path/to/left.VIC \
  --stereo-right /path/to/right.VIC

Output: Textured 3D mesh in Wavefront OBJ format (~10 minutes)

View Results

# Generated files in workspace/
ls workspace/
# terrain.obj       - 3D mesh
# terrain.mtl       - Material file
# texture.png       - Texture image
# pointcloud.xyz    - XYZ point cloud

# View in MeshLab, Blender, or CloudCompare
meshlab workspace/terrain.obj

Components

VICAR Native Toolkit

A helper/wrapper script that provides native-like CLI usage for VICAR commands inside the TIG Docker execution environment. Features:

• ✨ One-command setup via make bootstrap
• 🚀 Fast activation (~1 second, symlink-based wrappers)
• 🔧 Auto-discovers ~550 VICAR commands
• 🐳 Custom image support via IMAGE= variable
• 📊 VISOR calibration mounting for terrain processing

📁 vicar-native-toolkit/
📖 Toolkit README | Quick Reference

Terrain Intelligence Generator

An optimized VICAR execution environment, packaged as a Docker image with the VICAR toolset and VISOR calibration integration for stereo processing and mesh generation.

• 📁 terrain-intelligence-generator/docker/
• 📖 Getting Started

VISOR (VICAR Institutional Stereo Observation Repository)

Open source repository containing camera calibration files for multiple missions including M20 (Mars 2020), MER, MSL, and others. TIG integrates with VISOR for accurate stereo processing.

Demos

Example workflows for stereo mesh generation.

• 📁 Demo scripts: demo-mesh-generation*.sh
• 📖 Mesh Generation Guide
• 📖 Command Reference

Documentation

• Getting Started - Installation and setup
• Mesh Generation Demo - Step-by-step mesh creation
• Command Reference - Available VICAR commands
• Vicario Reference - Image format conversion

Key Tools

Tool	Purpose	Input	Output
marscorr	Initial stereo correlation	Stereo pair	Disparity map
marscor3	Disparity refinement	Disparity + images	Refined disparity
marsxyz	3D point generation	Disparity + images	XYZ point cloud
marsmesh	Surface triangulation	XYZ + texture	3D mesh (OBJ)
vicario	Format conversion	VICAR image	PNG/JPEG/TIFF

Requirements

• Docker or Podman
• 8GB RAM minimum (16GB recommended for high-res meshes)
• Linux, macOS, or Windows with WSL2

Project Structure

tig/
├── demo-mesh-generation-with-xyz.sh    # Main demo script (stereo or pre-computed XYZ)
├── demo-mesh-native-toolkit.sh         # Demo using the native toolkit wrappers
├── find-calibration.sh                 # Calibration helper
├── docs/                               # Documentation
│   ├── demos/                          # Demo guides
│   ├── architecture/                   # System design
│   └── reference/                      # Tool references
├── vicar-native-toolkit/               # VICAR wrapper scripts
└── terrain-intelligence-generator/     # TIG Docker execution environment
    └── docker/
        ├── Dockerfile
        └── vicario.jar                 # Image converter

Contributing

Contributions welcome! This project uses:

• VICAR: JPL's MIPL image processing system
• Docker: Containerized VICAR execution environment
• VISOR: Open source calibration repository for multiple missions
• Open Source: Community-driven terrain processing tools

License

Apache License 2.0 (see LICENSE file)

About VICAR

VICAR (Video Image Communication and Retrieval) is a general-purpose image processing system developed by NASA JPL's Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL). Used for processing images from Mars rovers, lunar missions, and deep space probes since the 1960s.

Acknowledgments

• NASA JPL Multimission Image Processing Laboratory (MIPL)
• VICAR development team
• Open source planetary science community