RoboSim: A multimode 3D simulator for studying mobile robot co-operation

Abstract

The design and development of an interactive 3D robotic simulator, as a platform for the study of co-operative robot behaviour, is described in this chapter. The simulator provides a visually realistic 3D world with simulated robot agents and geographical terrain, for the purpose of evaluating the performance of robots in various scenarios. The simulator was developed in C++ using open source packages, resulting in a modular and cost effective package. The modelling and simulation of robotic vehicles, terrains, sensors and behaviours are presented. Artificial Intelligent agent behaviours in co-operative robotic scenarios were developed and tested using the simulator, and the results presented. © 2007 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.