ethz-asl/rotors_simulator
Rotors Simulator
Rotors Simulator is a physics-based simulation framework designed for testing multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles and their control algorithms within a virtual environment. It models aerial vehicle movement, rotor thrust, and aerodynamic interactions by computing individual motor speeds directly to apply thrust and torque forces to rigid body dynamics. Aircraft kinematics, visual meshes, and sensor attachment points are described declaratively using unified robot description format files.
The environment integrates dynamic models and aerodynamic forces through native runtime plugins while coordinating simulation physics and control loops using publish-subscribe messaging and service calls. Virtual hardware components stream telemetry and perception streams over standard messaging channels to emulate physical onboard instruments. Additionally, the simulation supports manual flight commands sent through physical joysticks or keyboards mapped to aircraft control axes.
Features
- Quadrotor Physics Simulators - Runs physics models of unmanned aerial vehicles in a virtual environment to test control algorithms and flight dynamics.
- ROS Simulation Bridges - Coordinates real-time simulation physics and control loops using publish-subscribe messaging topics and service calls.
- ROS Simulation Bridges - Provides a physics-based ROS and Gazebo simulation framework for testing multirotor unmanned aerial vehicles.
- Velocity-Level Controllers - Applies direct motor velocity and torque forces to simulate individual rotor mechanics within the physics engine.
- Flight Simulation Environments - Simulates multicopter flight dynamics and aerodynamic interactions within a physics-based virtual environment.
- Aerial Navigation Simulators - Renders multirotor aircraft models in a physics-based environment complete with configurable aircraft geometry and physics properties.
- Physics Engine Plugin Integrations - Loads dynamic vehicle models and aerodynamic forces into the simulation runtime using modular physics plugins.
- Robot-Attached Sensor Simulations - Attaches virtual sensors including inertial measurement units and vision hardware to aircraft models during simulation runs.
- Robotic Sensor Simulation - Simulates onboard perception sensors like inertial measurement units and cameras attached to aircraft models.
- Sensor Data Streaming - Streams simulated sensor telemetry and perception data over standard messaging channels to emulate onboard instruments.
- Motor Control - Drives individual rotor velocities directly to spin propellers and generate thrust during flight tests.
- URDF Parsing and Visualization - Describes aircraft kinematics, visual meshes, and sensor attachment points declaratively using universal robot description format files.
- Robotics & Drones - Enables manual drone piloting using physical joysticks or keyboards mapped to aircraft control axes.
- Flight Test Frameworks - Provides a testing ground to verify multirotor flight control algorithms against simulated aerodynamic forces.
