Where Am I? A Simulated GPS Sensor for Outdoor Robotic Applications

Abstract

Abstract. Advances in the field of robotic simulations in general and the complexity of virtual outdoor environments in particular have created a demand for accurate simulated open-air localization devices. In this paper, we answer this request by presenting the implementation of a simulated Global Positioning System receiver for the popular USARSim platform. The engineering tradeoff of speed versus accuracy is encountered throughout the design process and discussed comprehensively in the paper. Along the lines of a validation methodology we developed in recent years, the simulated sensor is implemented and extensively analyzed in a real/simulated scenario, where data logged from a real robot is evaluated against the data acquired in simulation.

Evaluating maps produced by urban search and rescue robots: lessons learned from RoboCup

“…Indeed we agree that results obtained in simulation should carefully be considered and we do not view the simulator as a tool to prove concepts, but rather as a development and debugging framework to safely ease the evolution of software that will eventually run on real robots. For this reason, and since the very inception of the USARSim project, special care has been devoted to create experiments aiming at assessing the accuracy of results obtained in simulation (Carpin et al 2006a;Balaguer et al 2008b;Schmits and Visser 2008). In order to verify that the presented map evaluation schema extends to real systems, we contrast two maps as shown in Figs.…”

“…Even though it would be possible to drive the two robots in parallel with the same joystick, 2 as was done in Balaguer et al (2007Balaguer et al ( , 2008b, we do not follow this approach because the single operator would then be subject to a too demanding scenario (i.e. managing two Graphical User Interfaces at the same time).…”

Survey of popular robotics simulators, frameworks, and toolkits

“…Balaguer et al built on the previous work of validating simulated components by testing virtual sensors against real-world sensors. A method for creating and testing a virtual GPS sensor that much more closely simulates a real GPS sensor was created [24]. Wireless inter-robot communication and vision systems have been designed and validated as well [20].…”

From Simulation to Real Robots with Predictable Results: Methods and Examples

“…The GPS receiver then processes all information included in the received signals and computes its position. The more satellites that are within line of sight, the more accurate is the pose estimation produced by the GPS sensor (the reader is referred to [BC08] for a more detailed description of the computational aspects and additional results).…”

“…23 different robotic platforms are now available; these include wheeled robots, cars, tracked vehicles and flying robots. In addition, several of the sensors and robots have undergone rigorous validation of the forms outlined in this chapter in order to prove their similarities and difference from the real devices [BC08,Pepp07,Tayl07]. More information may be found at the USARSim website located at [Usar09].…”