Design and use paradigms for gazebo, an open-source multi-robot simulator

TLDR

Simulators are essential for robotics research, yet most are limited to 2D and few have matured into highly capable, adaptable 3D environments. Gazebo is designed to fill this gap by providing a 3D dynamic multi‑robot environment that recreates the complex worlds expected for next‑generation mobile robots. It achieves this through an open‑source framework that offers fine‑grained control, high fidelity physics, and a modular architecture for building and simulating multi‑robot scenarios. These capabilities enable not only realistic testing but also data visualization, remote environment simulation, and reverse engineering of black‑box systems. The simulator is developed with the Player and Stage projects and is available at http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/gazebo/gazebo.html.

Abstract

Simulators have played a critical role in robotics research as tools for quick and efficient testing of new concepts, strategies, and algorithms. To date, most simulators have been restricted to 2D worlds, and few have matured to the point where they are both highly capable and easily adaptable. Gazebo is designed to fill this niche by creating a 3D dynamic multi-robot environment capable of recreating the complex worlds that would be encountered by the next generation of mobile robots. Its open source status, fine grained control, and high fidelity place Gazebo in a unique position to become more than just a stepping stone between the drawing board and real hardware: data visualization, simulation of remote environments, and even reverse engineering of blackbox systems are all possible applications. Gazebo is developed in cooperation with the Player and Stage projects (Gerkey, B. P., et al., July 2003), (Gerkey, B. P., et al., May 2001), (Vaughan, R. T., et al., Oct. (Gerkey, B. P., et al., July 2001), (Vaughan, R. T., et al., Oct. P., et al., 2003), and is available from http://playerstage.sourceforge.net/gazebo/ gazebo.html.