A Simulator for Teaching Robotics Programming Using the iRobot Create

Abstract

Past educational robotics research has indicated that the use of simulators can increase students’ performance in introductory robotics programming courses. In this paper, we introduce a simulator for the iRobot Create that works on Windows PCs. It was developed to work with a Python robotics library and includes an Eclipse plugin, but can simulate any library that uses the serial Open Interface on the Create. The platform, library, and simulator are all easy to use and have been well-received initially by students.