A Simulation Environment for Middle-Size Robots with Multi-level Abstraction

Larger fields in the Middle-size league as well as the effort to build mixed teams from different universities require a simulation environment which is capable to physically correctly simulate the robots and the environment. A standardized simulation environment has not yet been proposed for this league. In this paper we present our simulation environment, which is based on the Gazebo system. We show how typical Middle-size robots with features like omni-drives and omni-directional cameras can be modeled with relative ease. In particular, the control software for the real robots can be used with few changes, thus facilitating the transfer of results obtained in simulation back to the robots. We address some technical issues such as adapting time-triggered events in the robot control software to the simulation, and we introduce the concept of multi-level abstractions. The latter allows switching between faithful but computionally expensive sensor models and abstract but cheap approximations. These abstractions are needed especially when simulating whole teams of robots.