A realistic simulation of a humanoid robot in USARSim

Abstract

Realistic simulations of humanoid robots depend on the model accuracy of physical properties of the used environment and on the robot models. This paper describes the creation of a realistic sim- ulation of a humanoid robot model in a virtual environment using USARSim (Urban Search and Rescue Simulator). USARSim gives a realistic view of the environment with its detailed 3D rendering and a realistic simulation of the physical properties. Moreover, USARSim allows users to observe the virtual environment from different views. One of these is the egocentric view, i.e. using the perspective of the camera mounted on the robot. We choose to model the Robovie-M robot, developed by Vstone. We used the same control tool software, which has been developed in our lab- oratory, to send commands to the simulated robot and the virtual one. Then, we compared these two behaviors. We present a study about a qualitative validation of USARSim’s environment for the development of different movements with this robot’s model.