Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jun 3, 2026

Robotics simulator

A robotics simulator is a simulator used to create an application for a physical robot without depending on the physical machine, thus saving cost and time. In some case, such applications can be transferred onto a physical robot without modification.

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A robotics simulator is a simulator used to create an application for a physical robot without depending on the physical machine, thus saving cost and time. In some case, such applications can be transferred onto a physical robot (or rebuilt) without modification.

The term robotics simulator can refer to several different robotics simulation applications. For example, in mobile robotics applications, behavior-based robotics simulators allow users to create simple worlds of rigid objects and light sources and to program robots to interact with these worlds. Behavior-based simulation allows for actions that are more biotic in nature when compared to simulators that are more binary, or computational. Also, behavior-based simulators may learn from mistakes and can demonstrate the anthropomorphic quality of tenacity.

Robologix robotics simulator source ↗

One of the most popular applications for robotics simulators is for 3D modeling and rendering of a robot and its environment. This type of robotics software has a simulator that is a virtual robot, which can emulate the motion of a physical robot in a real work envelope. Some robotics simulators use a physics engine for more realistic motion generation of the robot. The use of a robotics simulator to develop a robotics control program is highly recommended regardless of whether a physical robot is available or not. The simulator allows for robotics programs to be conveniently written and debugged off-line with the final version of the program tested on a physical robot. This applies mainly to industrial robotic applications, since the success of off-line programming depends on how similar the physical environment of a robot is to a simulated environment.

Sensor-based robot actions are much more difficult to simulate and/or to program off-line, since the robot motion depends on instantaneous sensor readings in the real world.

Features

Modern simulators tend to provide the following features:

  • Fast robot prototyping:
    • Using the own simulator as creation tool
    • Using external tools
  • Physics engines for realistic movements: Most simulators use Bullet, ODE or PhysX.
  • Realistic 3d rendering: Standard 3d modeling tools or third-party tools can be used to build the environments.
  • Dynamic robot bodies with scripting: C, C++, Perl, Python, Java, URBI, and MATLAB languages used by Webots; C++ used by Gazebo.

Simulators

Among the newest technologies available today for programming are those which use a virtual simulation. Simulations with the use of virtual models of the working environment and the robots themselves can offer advantages to both the company and programmer. By using a simulation, costs are reduced, and robots can be programmed off-line which eliminates any down-time for an assembly line. Robot actions and assembly parts can be visualized in a three-dimensional virtual environment months before prototypes are even produced. Writing code for a simulation is also easier than writing code for a physical robot. While the move toward virtual simulations for programming robots is a step forward in user interface design, many such applications are only in their infancy.

General information

Software Developers Development status License 3D rendering engine Physics engine 3D modeller Platforms supported
Gazebo Open Source Robotics Foundation (OSRF) Active Apache 2.0 OGRE ODE, Bullet, Simbody, DART Internal Linux, macOS, Windows
RoboDK RoboDK Active Proprietary OpenGL Gravity plug-in Internal Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, iOS, Debian
SimSpark O. Obst et al. (+26) Active GNU GPL (v2) Internal ODE None Linux, macOS, Windows
Webots Cyberbotics Ltd. Active Apache 2.0 Internal (WREN) Fork of ODE Internal Linux, macOS, Windows
OpenRAVE OpenRAVE Community Active GNU LGPL Coin3D, OpenSceneGraph ODE, Bullet Internal Linux, macOS, Windows
CoppeliaSim Coppelia Robotics Active Dual: commercial, GNU GPL Internal MuJoCo, Bullet, ODE, Vortex, Newton Internal Linux, macOS, Windows
ENCY Robot1 ENCY Software Active Proprietary Internal (proprietary ENCY X platform)2 – Internal (3D modeling)3 Windows4
Software Developers Development status License 3D rendering engine Physics engine 3D modeller Platforms supported

Technical information

Software Main programming language Formats support Extensibility External APIs Robotics middleware support Primary user interface Headless simulation
Gazebo C++ SDF5/URDF,6 OBJ, STL, COLLADA Plug-ins (C++) C++ ROS, Player, sockets (protobuf messages) GUI Yes
RoboDK Python SLDPRT, SLDASM, STEP, OBJ, STL, 3DS, COLLADA, VRML, Robot Operating System URDF, Rhinoceros 3D, ... API,7 Plug-In Interface8 Python, C/C++, C#, Matlab, ... Socket GUI Yes
SimSpark C++, Ruby Ruby Scene Graphs Mods (C++) Network (sexpr) Sockets (sexpr) GUI, sockets Unknown
Webots C++ WBT, VRML, X3D, 3DS, Blender, BVH, COLLADA, FBX, STL, OBJ, URDF API, PROTOs, plug-ins (C/C++) C, C++, Python, Java, Matlab, ROS Sockets, ROS, NaoQI GUI Yes9
OpenRAVE C++, Python XML, VRML, OBJ, COLLADA Plug-ins (C++), API C/C++, Python, Matlab Sockets, ROS, YARP GUI, sockets Yes
CoppeliaSim C++, Python, Lua 3DS, Blender, COLLADA, STL, OBJ, URDF, SDF, GLTF, XML Plug-ins (C/C++), embedded scripts (Python, Lua), remote API (C, C++, Python, Java, MATLAB, Octave), add-ons (Python, Lua) C, C++, Python, Java, MATLAB, Octave, ROS, ROS 2.0 Sockets, ROS, ROS 2.0, ZeroMQ GUI Yes
ENCY Robot Delphi, C#, C++10 IGES, STEP, STL, DXF, VRML, Rhinoceros (3DM), Parasolid (x_t/x_b), SolidWorks (SLDPRT/SLDASM), Solid Edge (PAR/PSM/ASM/PWR), PLY, AMF, JT, PLMXML (and others)11

Add-ins: Alibre Design, Autodesk Inventor, IronCAD, CADbro, CAXA 3D, FreeCAD, KeyCreator, Siemens NX, Rhinoceros, SolidCAM, SolidEdge, SOLIDWORKS, SpaceClaim, ZW3D, Onshape12

API; scripting13 C#, Delphi, C++ (CAMIPC / IPC)14 None GUI Yes15
Software Main programming language Formats support Extensibility External APIs Robotic middleware support Primary user interface Headless simulation

Infrastructure

Support

Software Mailing list API documentation Public forum, help system User manual Issue tracker Wiki Chat
Gazebo Yes16 Yes17 Yes18 Yes19 Yes20 No
RoboDK Yes21 Yes22 Yes23 Yes24 Yes25 No Unknown
SimSpark Yes26 Yes27 No Yes28 Yes29 Yes30 Unknown
Webots No Yes31 Yes32 Yes33 Yes34 Yes35 Yes36
OpenRAVE Yes37 Yes38 Yes39 Yes40 Yes39 Yes41 Unknown
CoppeliaSim No Yes42 Yes43 Yes44 Yes45 Unknown No
ENCY Robot Yes46 Yes47 Yes Yes48 Unknown No Yes49
Software Mailing list API documentation Public forum, help system User manual Issue tracker Wiki

Code quality

Software Static code checker Style checker Test system(s) Test function coverage Test branch coverage Lines of code Lines of comments Continuous integration
Gazebo cppcheck50 cpplint50 gtest and qtest50 77.0%50 53.3%50 320k50 106k50 Jenkins50
RoboDK Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
SimSpark Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Webots cppcheck51 clang-format52 unit tests53 100% of API functions54 master,55 develop56 ~200k ~50k GitHub Actions
OpenRAVE Unknown Unknown Python nose Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Jenkins57
CoppeliaSim Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
ENCY Robot Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Software Static code checker Style checker Test system(s) Test function coverage Test branch coverage Lines of code Lines of comments Continuous integration

Features

Software CAD to motion Dynamic collision avoidance Relative end effectors Off-line programming Real-time streaming control of hardware
Gazebo Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes
RoboDK Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SimSpark Unknown No Unknown No No
Webots Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes
OpenRAVE Unknown No Unknown No No
CoppeliaSim Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes
ENCY Robot Yes58 Yes59 Yes (Tool-to-part / part-to-tool)60 Yes1 Yes (via ENCY Hyper real-time execution)61
Software CAD to motion Dynamic collision avoidance Relative end effectors Off-line programming Real-time streaming control

Robot families

Software UGV (ground mobile robot) UAV (aerial robots) AUV (underwater robots) Robotic arms Robotic hands (grasping simulation) Humanoid robots Human avatars Full list
Gazebo Yes62 Yes63 Yes64 Yes65 Yes66 Yes67 Yes68
RoboDK No No No Yes69 No No No Yes69
SimSpark Yes No No Maybe Maybe Yes No
Webots Yes Yes Yes70 Yes Yes Yes71 Yes Yes72
OpenRAVE Yes Unknown Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes
CoppeliaSim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes73
ENCY Robot No No No Yes74 No No No No
Software UGV (ground mobile robot) UAV (aerial robots) AUV (underwater robots) Robotic arms Robotic hands (grasping simulation) Humanoid robots Human avatars Full list

Supported actuators

Software Generic kinematic chains Force-controlled motion Full list Circular kinematic chains Kinematically redundant chains Bifurcated kinematic chains
Gazebo Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
RoboDK Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
SimSpark Yes No SimSpark effectors Unknown Unknown Unknown
Webots Yes Yes Webots actuators Yes Yes Yes
OpenRAVE Yes Yes Joints, Extra Actuators Yes75 Yes Yes76
CoppeliaSim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ENCY Robot Yes77 No Unknown Yes (redundancy / external axes)78 Unknown
Software Generic kinematic chains Force-controlled motion Full list Circular kinematic chains Kinematically redundant chains Bifurcated kinematic chains

Supported sensors

Software Odometry IMU Collision GPS Monocular cameras Stereo cameras Depth cameras Omnidirectional cameras 2D laser scanners 3D laser scanners Full list
Gazebo Yes Yes Yes79 Yes Yes80 Yes Yes Yes Yes81 Yes81
RoboDK Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
SimSpark Yes Yes Yes82 Partial83 Yes Partial Unknown Unknown No No SimSpark perceptors
Webots Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Webots sensors
OpenRAVE Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Unknown Yes Yes
CoppeliaSim Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
ENCY Robot Unknown Unknown Yes84 Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown Unknown
Software Odometry IMU Collision GPS Monocular cameras Stereo cameras Depth cameras Omnidirectional cameras 2D laser scanners 3D laser scanners Full list
See also

See also

References

References

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