Abstract
Undergraduate robotics students often find it difficult to design and validate control algorithms for teams of mobile robots. This is mainly due to two reasons. First, very rarely, educational laboratories are equipped with large teams of robots, which are usually expensive, bulky, and difficult to manage and maintain. Second, robotics simulators often require students to spend much time to learn their use and functionalities. For this purpose, a simulator of multiagent mobile robots namedMARShas been developed within the Matlab environment, with the aim of helping students to simulate a wide variety of control algorithms in an easy way and without spending time for understanding a new language. Through this facility, the user is able to simulate multirobot teams performing different tasks, from cooperative to competitive ones, by using both centralized and distributed controllers. Virtual sensors are provided to simulate real devices. A graphical user interface allows students to monitor the robots behaviour through an online animation.
Highlights
It is a common opinion that experimental validation of control algorithms involving mobile robots is a mandatory practice in this field of research
A simulator of multiagent mobile robots named Multiagent Robot Simulator (MARS) has been developed within the Matlab environment, with the aim of helping students to simulate a wide variety of control algorithms in an easy way and without spending time for understanding a new language
The Multiagent Robot Simulator (MARS) is a software simulator whose aim is to provide a virtual environment for simulating teams of mobile robots
Summary
It is a common opinion that experimental validation of control algorithms involving mobile robots is a mandatory practice in this field of research. Many simulators have been developed in academic institutions; see [5,6,7,8,9,10], just to cite a few These simulators provide several nice features to the user, like very accurate modelling of the mechanics of the vehicles, a detailed description of the environment, and realistic animations showing the behaviour of the robot team. Matlab environment, which is widely employed within engineering programs Thanks to these features, designing and validating control algorithms are much easier and faster than in other robot simulators. Despite its simplicity, it may be used as a research tool, allowing researchers to design and validate complex controllers before the actual implementation on real vehicles.
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