Sensors Available

LOTUSim has a set of onboard sensors you can attach to any vessel model via SDF. Each publishes standard or LOTUSim-specific ROS 2 messages, and can be toggled on/off at runtime.

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AIS Sensor

Publishes AIS-style position and velocity data for a vessel, mimicking the Automatic Identification System used on real ships.

Publishes: lotusim_sensor_msgs/msg/AIS

IMU Sensor

Publishes standard inertial measurement data: angular velocity and linear acceleration for a vessel.

Publishes: sensor_msgs/msg/Imu

Radar Sensor

Simulates a marine surface radar. Takes point cloud data from a companion 2D LiDAR and applies a Point Spread Function (PSF) to produce a realistic, blurred radar-style image. Closer targets appear sharp, distant ones smear, like a real radar display.

Publishes: radar image, raw LiDAR image, and structured radar_msgs/msg/RadarScan detections

Requires: a LiDAR sensor on the same link Full radar sensor docs

Subsea Pressure Sensor

Measures ambient pressure and can estimate depth from the reading. Adapted from the UUV Simulator project.

Publishes: lotusim_sensor_msgs/msg/PressureDepth