The research on mobile robot sensor simulation and visualization

In the past, most simulation and animation systems utilized in robotics were concerned with simulation of the robot and its environment without simulation of sensors. These systems have difficulty in handling robots that utilize sensory feedback in their operation. With the development of robotics, the method of navigation heavily depended on perception has already been mainstream. So, it is different from robotics in the original stage, which depended on a sole sensor. Sensor fusion plays an important role in navigation. Correspondingly, it is important to do research on a simulator which deals with multisensor, integrated robot simulation. We present the idea of sensor fusion under virtual reality, and describe the architecture of our outdoor mobile robot simulator developed under a virtual reality environment. Meanwhile, we also give the difference of simulation between the VR system and a general 2D system. In order to simulate the uncertainty of the ultrasonic sensor, we identify three kinds of uncertainty, and give a ultrasonic sensor model based on fuzzy theory. The sensor simulation algorithm is presented. We conclude with a discussion of sensor fusion under a 3D visualized integrated environment