Repeatable Decentralized Simulations for Cyber-Physical Systems

Abstract

Simulation is very helpful for the development of cyber-physical systems, as it enables testing functionalities and their integration without full hardware deployment. For complex systems, such as fleets of heterogeneous robots, multiple simulators dedicated to particular physical processes must be interconnected, so as to build a wholesome simulation and test the overall system. A key property to ensure is that the overall simulation is repeatable. We propose a lightweight distributed architecture for time management, allowing to easily deploy complex simulations while strictly ensuring repeatability. A formal model of the architecture is provided, along with a proof of progress. An open source implementation, with a binding to the robotic ROS framework is made available.