Robot Unit Testing

We introduce Robot Unit Testing (RUT) as a methodology to bring modern testing methods into robotics. Through RUT the range of robotics software that can be automatically tested is extended beyond current practice. A robotics simulator is used to bridge the gap between well automated tests that only check a robot's software and time consuming, inherently manual tests on robots of alloy and circuits. An in-depth realization of RUT is shown, which is based on the Robot Operating System (ROS) framework and the Gazebo simulator due to their prominence in robotics research and inherent suitability for the RUT methodology.