Interactive simulation of the NIST USAR arenas

We are developing interactive simulations of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Reference Test Facility for Autonomous Mobile Robots (Urban Search and Rescue). The NIST USAR Test Facility is a standardized disaster environment consisting of three scenarios of progressive difficulty: Yellow, Orange, and Red arenas. The USAR task focuses on robot behaviors, and physical interaction with standardized but disorderly rubble filled environments. The simulation will be used to test and evaluate designs for teleoperation interfaces and robot sensing and cooperation that will subsequently be incorporated into experimental robots. This paper describes our novel simulation approach using an inexpensive game engine to rapidly construct a visually and dynamically accurate simulation for both individual robots and robot teams.