Olivier, M.. / Cyberbotics Ltd - WebotsTM: Professional Mobile Robot Simulation, pp.

40-43, Inernational Journal of

Advanced Robotic Systems, Volume 1 Number 1 (2004), ISSN 1729-8806

Cyberbotics Ltd.
WebotsTM: Professional Mobile Robot Simulation

Olivier Michel
Cyberbotics Ltd.,
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, BIRG & SWIS research groups,
[email protected]

Abstract: Cyberbotics Ltd. develops WebotsTM, a mobile robotics simulation software that provides you with a rapid
prototyping environment for modelling, programming and simulating mobile robots. The provided robot libraries
enable you to transfer your control programs to several commercially available real mobile robots. WebotsTM lets you
define and modify a complete mobile robotics setup, even several different robots sharing the same environment. For
each object, you can define a number of properties, such as shape, color, texture, mass, friction, etc. You can equip
each robot with a large number of available sensors and actuators. You can program these robots using your favorite
development environment, simulate them and optionally transfer the resulting programs onto your real robots.
WebotsTM has been developed in collaboration with the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, thoroughly
tested, well documented and continuously maintained for over 7 years. It is now the main commercial product available
from Cyberbotics Ltd.
Keywords: WebotsTM, mobile robot simulation, rapid prototyping, transfer to real robots, commercial software

1. Introduction

Cyberbotics Ltd. was founded in 1998 as a spin-off

company from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology
in Lausanne (EPFL). It currently employs two people and
develops WebotsTM: a commercial software used for
mobile robotics prototyping simulation and transfer to
real robots (see Fig. 1). In 1998 and 1999 Cyberbotics
developed an Aibo® simulator for Sony Ltd. Cyberbotics
has now collaborations with the Biologically Inspired
Robotics Group (BIRG) and the Swarm Intelligent
System Research Group (SWIS) of the EPFL through the
Swiss CTI technology transfer program.
WebotsTM runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X and is
intended for researchers and teachers interested in mobile
robotics. It is commercially available from Cyberbotics
Ltd. (http://www.cyberbotics.com).

2. Need for Simulation Fig.1. Stages of development of a robot simulation

Although the final aim is real robotics, it is often very experiments only takes a few hours. A simulated robotics
useful to perform simulations prior to investigations with setup is less expensive than real robots and real world
real robots. This is because simulations are easier to setups,thus allowing a better design exploration.
setup, less expensive, faster and more convenient to use. Simulation often runs faster than real robots while all the
Building up new robot models and setting up parameters are easildisplayed on screen. Simulations

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make it possible to use computer expensive algorithms
that would need ages to run on real robot micro-
controllers, like genetic algorithms. Finally, the
simulation results are transferable onto the real robots.

3. Features

WebotsTM has a number of essential features intended to

make this simulation tool both easy to use and powerful:
• Models and simulates any mobile robot, including
wheeled, legged and flying robots.
• Includes a complete library of sensors and actuators.
• Lets you program the robots in C, C++ and Java, or
from third party software through TCP/IP.
• Transfers controllers to real mobile robots, including
Aibo®, Lego® Mindstorms®, Khepera®, Koala®
and Hemisson®.
• Uses the ODE (Open Dynamics Engine) library for
accurate physics simulation.
• Creates AVI or MPEG simulation movies for web
and public presentations. Fig.3. Humanoid robot modelling using physics
• Includes many examples with controller source code
servos (for legs, arms, etc.), LEDs, emitters (radio and
and models of commercially available robots.
infra-red) and grippers.
• Lets you simulate multi-agent systems, with global
With WebotsTM, you can create complex environments
and local communication facilities.
for your mobile robot simulations, using advanced
hardware accelerated OpenGL technologies, including
4. Robot and world editor
lighting, smooth shading, texture mapping, fog, etc.
Moreover, WebotsTM allows you to import 3D models in
A library of sensors is provided so that you can plug a
its scene tree (see Fig. 2) from most 3D modelling
sensor in your robot model and tune it individually
software through the VRML97 standard.
(range, noise, response, field of view, etc.). This sensor
You can create worlds as large as you need and
library includes distance sensors (infra-red and ultra-
WebotsTM will optimize them to enable fast simulations.
sonic), range finders, light sensors, touch sensors, global
Complex robots can be built by assembling chains of
positioning sensor (GPS), inclinometers, compass,
servo nodes. This allows you to easily create legged
cameras (1D, 2D, color, black and white), receivers
robots with several joints per leg (as shown in Fig. 3),
(radio and infra-red), position sensors for servos,
robot arms, pan / tilt camera systems, etc. For example,
incremental encoders for wheels.
you can place several cameras on the same robot to
Similarly, an actuator library is provided. It includes
perform binocular stereo vision, or 360 degree vision
differential wheel motor unit, independent wheel motors,
systems.

5. Realistic Simulation

The simulation system used in WebotsTM uses virtual

time, making it possible to run simulations much faster
than it would take on a real robot. Depending on the
complexity of the setup and the power of your computer,
simulations can run up to 300 times faster than the real
robot when using the fast simulation mode.
The basic simulation time step can be adjusted to suit
your needs (precision versus speed). A step-by-step
mode is available to study in detail how your robots
behave
Simulating complex robotic devices including articulated
mechanical parts requires precise physics simulation.
WebotsTM relies on ODE (Open Dynamics Engine) to
perform accurate physics simulation wherever it is
necessar y
For each component of a robot, you can specify a mass
distribution matrix (or use primitives for simple
Fig. 2. Scene tree editor window geometries), static and kinematic friction coefficients,

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bounciness, etc. Moreover each component is associated
with a bounding object used for collision detection.
Servo devices can be controlled by your program in
torque, position or velocity. The control parameters for
the servo can be individually adjusted from your
controller program.
The graphical user interface of WebotsTM allows you to
easily interact with the simulation while it is running. By
dragging the mouse, you can change the viewpoint
position, orientation and zoom using the mouse wheel.
Pressing the shift key while dragging the mouse allows
you to move or rotate objects. This feature facilitates
interactive testing.

6. Programming Interface

Programming your robot using the C language is as

simple as shown in Fig. 4.
In this example, the robot is a differential wheeled robot
Fig. 5. Aibo ERS-210 robot with transfer capability
equipped with an infra-red distance sensor named “ir”
looking forward. The robot will stop moving if the
distance sensor detects an obstacle and restart moving
when the obstacle is no longer detected.
A similar Java programming interface is also included.
Moreover, any WebotsTM controller can be connected to
a third party software program, such as MatLab®,
LabView®, Lisp®, etc. through a TCP/IP interface.
Research experiments often need to interact
automatically with the simulation. The supervisor
capability allows you to write a program responsible for
supervising the experiment. Such a program can
dynamically move objects, send messages to robots,
record robot trajectories, add new objects or robots, etc.
The supervisor capability can be used in computationally
expensive simulations where a large number of robot Fig. 6. Control for a real and simulated Khepera robot
configurations and control parameters have to be
7. Transfer to real robots
evaluated, as in genetic evolution, neural networking,
machine learning, etc.
Once tested in simulation your robot controllers can be
transferred to real robots:
• Khepera® and Koala®: cross-compilation of C
#include <robot.h> WebotsTM controllers and remote control with any
#include <differential_wheels.h> programming language (see Fig. 6).
#include <distance_sensor.h>
• Hemisson®: Finite state automata graphical
DeviceTag ir; programming with remote control and autonomous
execution modes.
void my_robot_reset() { • LEGO® Mindstorms®: cross-compilation for RCX
ir = robot_get_device(“ir”);
}
of Java WebotsTM controllers based on LeJOS.
• Aibo®: cross-compilation of C/C++ WebotsTM
void main() { controller programs based on the Open-R SDK (see
robot_live(my_robot_reset); Fig. 5).
for(;;) { /* infinite loop */ • Your own robot: The WebotsTM user guide explains
if (distance_sensor_get_value(ir)>100)
differential_wheels_set_speed(0,0);
how to build your own WebotsTM cross-compilation
else system for your very own robot.
differential_wheels_set_speed(10,10);
robot_step(64) /* run for 64 ms */ 8. Documentation and support
}
}
WebotsTM comes with a complete documentation,
including two printed manuals with color covers. This
Fig. 4. Programming a robot with the C interface documentation is also included on the WebotsTM CD-
ROM in both PDF and HTML format.

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The WebotsTM user guide explains how to install and get be out the scope of this paper to present each application.
started with WebotsTM. This manual includes a step-by- However, we may attempt to classify them into several
step tutorial for modelling and programming your own major categories:
robot, and describes a number of sample experiments • The multi-agent simulations category includes
included on the CD-ROM. It explains the basic principles research experiments where several robots cooperate
of WebotsTM and shows you how to transfer your to reach a global goal (see Fig. 7).
programs to real robots. • The artificial intelligence category attempts to
The WebotsTM reference manual contains everything you validate psychology hypothesis, mainly learning, by
need to develop your WebotsTM application. It provides a simulating intelligent mobile robot behaviors.
complete description of all the objects you can simulate • The control research category involves developing
with WebotsTM, including robot bases, sensors, actuators, efficient control algorithms to perform complex
simple objects, etc. The programming interface is mobile robot motion.
completely documented with examples. Functions are • The robot design category aims at shaping mobile
sorted by categories. robots defining the position and properties of its
Finally a number of example worlds and controllers are sensors and actuators. This is especially useful to
provided on the CD-ROM which can serve as a starting investigate new wheeled, legged or flying robots.
point for developing your application.
WebotsTM users take advantage of the WebotsTM users 10. References
community through a support mailing list. Most
questions are answered within 24 hours by Cyberbotics Dautenhahn, K. & Coles, S. J. (2001). Narrative
support services. All WebotsTM licenses include one year Intelligence from the Bottom Up: A Computational
of personalized user support and free upgrades via the Framework for the Study of Story-Telling in
Internet. Autonomous Agents. Journal of Artificial Societies
and Social Simulation. Vol. 4, No. 1. 2001.
9. Examples of Applications Hayes, A. T.; Martinoli, A. & Goodman, R. M. (2003).
Swarm robotic odor locatization: Off-line
WebotsTM has been used by more than one hundred optimization and validation with real robots.
universities and research centers worldwide since 1998 Robotica, Vol. 21, pp. 427-441, Cambridge
University Press.
Ijspeert, A. J.; Martinoli, A.; Billard, A. & Gambardella,
L. M. (2001). Collaboration through the exploitation
of local interactions in autonomous collective
robotics: the stick pulling experiment. Autonomous
Robots. Vol. 11, No. 2, 2001, pp 149-171.
Köse, H. & Akin, H. L. (2000). Towards a Robust
Cognitive Architecture for Small Autonomous
Mobile Robots. ISCIS XV, The Fifteenth
International Symposium on Computer and
Information Sciences, October, 11-13, 2000,
ISTANBUL, TURKEY, pp.447-455.
Mitrovic, I. & Dautenhahn, K. (2003). Social Attitudes:
Investigations with Agent Simulations Using
Webots. Journal of Artificial Societies and Social
Simulation. Vol. 6, No. 4. 2003.
Wang, L. F.; Tan, K. C. & Prahald, V. (2000).
Developing Khepera Robot Applications in a Webots
Environment. Proceedings of the International
Symposium on Human Micromechatronics and
Fig. 7. Multi-agent robot soccer simulation Human Science, October 22-25, Nagoya, Japan, pp
71-76.
for both education and research purposes. Zhang, Y.; Martinoli, A.; Antonsson, E. K. & Olney, R.
Education applications allow the students to get started (2003). Evolution of Sensory Configurations for
with robotics, 3D modelling, programming, artificial Intelligent Vehicles. Proceedings of the IEEE
intelligence, computer vision, artificial life, etc. with an Intelligent Vehicles Symp., June 2003, Columbus,
integrated tool. It is easy to implement a virtual robot pp. 351-356.
contest, like a soccer contest or a humanoid locomotion Zufferey, J. C.; Beyeler, A. & Floreano, D. (2003).
contest, based on WebotsTM, which is highly motivating Vision-based Navigation from Wheels to Wings. In
for the students. Proceedings of the IEEE/RSJ International
All the articles listed in the last section of this paper refer Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems
to different research applications of WebotsTM. It would (IROS), Las Vegas, USA, pp. 2968-2973.

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