A new 2D simulator for ROS

[Patrick Goebel]

Just in case some of you aren't on the ros-users list, this is one of the coolest ROS-enabled tools I have seen in awhile.  It's a 2D simulator + GUI for mobile robots that (so far) includes support for laser scanners and sonar range finders.  It also comes with a number of pre-installed maps and robots so you can get started right away.  While it does not attempt a realistic physics simulation like Gazebo, it is a breeze to install and get running.  You can then immediately start testing your ROS nodes for SLAM, navigation, maze learning and even swarm robots.

I tried the simulator while running RViz and a move_base node, and the simulated robot was able to make its way around the map while avoiding obstacles using its simulated laser and sonar scans.

Check out the announcement at:

http://forums.trossenrobotics.com/showthread.php?6708-STDR-Simulator-(Simple-Two-Dimensional-Robot-Simulator)

--patrick

http://www.pirobot.org

[Colin Landrum]

Thanks for that. I didn't know I wanted it until I saw it!