3-Dimensional simulator for multiple robot system using TCP-IP

Abstract

This paper presents a structure of a simulator for multiple robot system. For wide compatibility, the simulator uses IPC(Inter Process Communication) library based on TCP-IP. It consists of the four units: communication, robot control, kinematic design, and driver for real robot operation. Implemented in the simulator are seven kinds of URC robots. By providing only the link parameters, a new robot can be added. Also, a user can generate a working environment consisting of walls. The real robots and virtual robots can operate in parallel. It is used for verification of collision avoidance algorithms in an environment with multiple heterogeneous robots. These examples show that the simulator is useful and indispensable for verification of algorithms especially for complicated multiple robot systems.