A Gazebo/ROS-based simulator for underwater robotics, providing plugins, controllers, and vehicle models for UUV development.
UUV Simulator is an open-source simulation framework for Unmanned Underwater Vehicles (UUVs) built on Gazebo and ROS. It provides a suite of plugins, controllers, and pre-configured vehicle models to simulate underwater vehicle dynamics, sensor data, and control algorithms in a virtual marine environment. It solves the problem of costly and risky real-world testing by enabling thorough simulation-based validation for underwater robotics projects.
Robotics researchers, marine engineers, and developers working on autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) and remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) who need a realistic simulation environment for algorithm development, control system testing, and sensor integration.
Developers choose UUV Simulator because it offers a specialized, physics-accurate simulation environment tailored for underwater robotics, with a wide range of pre-implemented controllers and vehicle models. Its integration with Gazebo and ROS provides a standardized, extensible platform that accelerates research and development while reducing dependency on physical prototypes.
Gazebo/ROS packages for underwater robotics simulation
Open-Awesome is built by the community, for the community. Submit a project, suggest an awesome list, or help improve the catalog on GitHub.
Implements Fossen's equations of motion and thruster models based on cited research like Yoerger et al. (1990), providing accurate simulation of underwater vehicle dynamics for research validation.
Includes advanced controllers such as geometric tracking PD, model-based feedback linearization, and sliding mode controllers, covering a wide range of control strategies for both AUVs and ROVs.
Offers ready-to-use models like rexrov, eca_a9, and lauv_gazebo, accelerating setup and enabling immediate testing without custom modeling efforts.
Leverages the Gazebo physics engine and ROS ecosystem, allowing for standardized simulation workflows and interoperability with other robotics tools and packages.
Provides real-world scenarios from projects like SWARMs and includes academic citation support, making it valuable for publications and collaborative research.
Explicitly stated as a research prototype not ready for production use, requiring significant adjustments for safety-critical applications and lacking commercial-grade reliability.
Only supports ROS Kinetic, Lunar, and Melodic, which are outdated distributions, potentially complicating integration with newer systems or ROS2-based projects.
Requires installation of specific ROS desktop-full packages and Gazebo, making it cumbersome for teams not familiar with or unwilling to adopt the ROS ecosystem.
Built on Gazebo, which can be resource-intensive and may introduce simulation latency, limiting its use for high-frequency or large-scale multi-robot scenarios.