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Gazebo simulation light

In Gazebo Harmonic / SDF, the main light types are:

  • point
  • spot
  • directional

They differ by:

  • how light is emitted
  • whether there is direction
  • whether intensity decays with distance
  • whether the light is focused

sdf spec

Real world analogy

Real object Gazebo type
Candle point
Flashlight spot
Sun directional
Car headlight spot
Ceiling bulb point
Stadium projector spot

Demo Sun:

light / sun gizmo

directional light ignore position the gazebo gui mark the light as green square that shown in the pose tag, it is just a gizmo

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<light type="directional" name="sun">
    <cast_shadows>true</cast_shadows>
    <pose>0 0 10 0 0 0</pose>
    <diffuse>0.8 0.8 0.8 1</diffuse>
    <specular>0.2 0.2 0.2 1</specular>
    <attenuation>
    <range>1000</range>
    <constant>0.9</constant>
    <linear>0.01</linear>
    <quadratic>0.001</quadratic>
    </attenuation>
    <direction>-0.5 0.1 -0.9</direction>
</light>