Simulation Modeling of Mobile Robotic Complexes Tool Analysis According to Physical Laws (a Review)

Abstract

This article is about the technologies of simulation modeling of mobile robotic complexes. The basic demands for a simulation environment are defined such as realistic results, open-source code, extensibility, performance of system, possibility of usage of low-level code for simulation. Moreover, the most significant characteristics for physics engines are described in the article, specifically solid-state physics, torque setup, stability of "axle" connection, stability of the simulated many-body system. The frequently used physics engines such as PhysX, ODE, MuJoCo, Bullet, Havok are analyzed and the search of modeling services is made in order to make the comparative table. The platform Unity is in focus of this work to show its abilities in modeling of mechanical and electronic parts of mobile robots. The aim of this work is minimizing mobile robots development outgoings. Programming product is given as result of simulation modeling of robotic complexes. The Unity platform is used as the engine for development of simulation tools for mechanical and electronic parts of robotic complex. The set of tools based on Unity engine is developed in order to create virtual models of mobile robots. The architecture of the project was developed in order to determine aspects of creating mobile robots in a simulation modeling environment. The logic of scripts for modeling the solid-state physics, kinematic chains and joints with different degrees of freedom is presented as a result of developing architecture of the project. The package was tested, a model of a mobile four-wheeled robotic platform was built as a result of the test.