Extending virtual robots towards RoboCup soccer simulation and @Home

Abstract

The RoboCup is an initiative to promote the development of robotics in a social relevant way. The competition consists of several leagues and it would be beneficial if developments in one league could be reused in other leagues. This paper describes the development of a simulation model for a humanoid robot inside USARSim, which could be the basis of synergy between the Rescue Simulation, Soccer Simulation and @Home League. USARSim is an existing 3D simulator based on the Unreal Engine, which provides facilities for good quality rendering, physics simulation, networking, a highly versatile scripting language and a powerful visual editor. This simulator is now extended with the dynamics of a walking robot and validated for the humanoid robot Nao. On this basis many other robotic applications as benchmarked in the RoboCup initiative become possible. © 2013 Springer-Verlag.