The upcoming release of robotSuite will feature a version of robotSim with significantly improved performance. In initial benchmark tests, 12 simulated iRobot Creates ran code from a laser wander project (communicating large amounts of data) and on several computers (including a MacBook Pro, 2.16Ghz, 1Gb Ram, 128Mb Video Ram) and extremely fast frame rates – 60-80 frames per second, and 80+ on faster computers.

This is really exciting in terms of simulating swarms and other group-based projects. As part of the release, robotSim will include a roboCup field environment.

As a results of a large amount of interest from the educational community, we have begun work on adding a simulated mars rover and Martian landscape to the simulator. This is also a great opportunity for us to add a large outdoor landscape to robotSim.

Authenticity was important so we began by using actual NASA data as the basis for our terrain map.

This is also by far the largest environment we have added to the sim, and there will a vast world for simulated rovers and other robots to explore. Work is also underway for creation of the simulated Opportunity rover. In the meantime, during development we’re using an iRobot Packbot to explore the terrain.

As seen from the insets below, the explorable area is vast:

The environment will simulate the gravity on Mars and will contain features that the robots can interact with.

The simulated Mars environment will be available in the upcoming robotSuite 1.5 release.

Looks like the next release of robotSim will include a lot of really exciting changes. We’ve been in talks with more manufacturers (press release announcements coming shortly), so more robot models within the sim are definitely on their way. As well, the robotFoundry team has been busy writing a sample Generic robot driver, with the example targeting the Player Project. This will mean that robotFoundry will be capable of generating code for all Player supported robots. While we will not initially be including all Player/Player-Stage robots within the simulator, we are definitely looking towards including higher profile robots such as the Pioneer. If anyone has any opinions regarding which Player robots they would like to see included in the robot simulator, please leave a comment.

We’ve also been hard at work developing a new application robotBuilder, which will be of tremendous benefit to the sim. Rather than using our default sensor configurations for robots like the Roomba and Create, robotBuilder will allow you to visually configure the sensors on your robot and then dynamically create your configured robot within the simulator.

A release date has not yet been set, but you can probably expect to see the new products before summer.

A strategic partnership with Systronix has resulted in the addition of the Trackbot to robotSim.

The trackbot is a versatile educational platform with eight IR sensors and and four IR based cliff sensors. It’s a great robot to experiment with in the sim as the combination of IR and cliff sensors allows it to handle obstacles and drops and it holds its own in all the simulated environments.

See the Trackbot Press Release for more information.

Version 1.1.5 of robotSim was released today with a few minor improvements.

robotSim Version 1.1.5

- Fixed packbot laser scanner to provide accurate data

- Allow VB scripts to run in simulation

While not extensive changes, they were included as part of greater feature improvements within robotFoundry.

robotSim version 1.1.4 will be released tomorrow in conjunction with a new Cogmation marketing campaign. Cogmation will be giving away free activation coupons in exchange for a short survey. Included in the simulator update will be several performance optimizations, as well as resolving a couple of minor Windows issues.