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Article

An Open Simulation Strategy for Rapid Control Design in Aerial and Maritime Drone Teams: A Comprehensive Tutorial

by
Omar Velasco
1,
João Valente
1,*,
Pablo J. Alhama Blanco
2 and
Mohammed Abderrahim
2
1
Information Technology Group, Wageningen University & Research, Hollandseweg 1, 6706 KN Wageningen, The Netherlands
2
Departamento de Ingeniería de Sistemas y Automática, Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, Avda. de la Universidad, 30, 28911 Leganés, Spain
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Drones 2020, 4(3), 37; https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030037
Submission received: 3 May 2020 / Revised: 20 July 2020 / Accepted: 21 July 2020 / Published: 23 July 2020

Abstract

The deployment of robot controllers into the real robotic platform is cumbersome and time consuming, especially when testing scenarios involve several robots or are sites not easily accessible. Besides this, most of the time, testing on the real platforms or real conditions provides little value in the early stages of controller design and prototype, phases where debugging and suitability of the controller are the main objectives. This paper proposes a simulation strategy for developing and testing controllers for Unmanned Aerial and Surface Vehicle coordination and interaction with the environment. The simulation strategy is based on V-REP and Matlab/Simulink which provide a large set of features, modularity and compatibility across platforms. Results show that this approach significantly reduces development and delivery times by providing an off-the-shelf simulation environment and a step-by-step implementation guidelines. The source code to deploy the simulations is available in an open-source repository.
Keywords: robotic simulation; open source; multi-robot system; unmanned aerial vehicle; unmanned surface vehicle; water drone; limnology robotic simulation; open source; multi-robot system; unmanned aerial vehicle; unmanned surface vehicle; water drone; limnology

Share and Cite

MDPI and ACS Style

Velasco, O.; Valente, J.; Alhama Blanco, P.J.; Abderrahim, M. An Open Simulation Strategy for Rapid Control Design in Aerial and Maritime Drone Teams: A Comprehensive Tutorial. Drones 2020, 4, 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030037

AMA Style

Velasco O, Valente J, Alhama Blanco PJ, Abderrahim M. An Open Simulation Strategy for Rapid Control Design in Aerial and Maritime Drone Teams: A Comprehensive Tutorial. Drones. 2020; 4(3):37. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030037

Chicago/Turabian Style

Velasco, Omar, João Valente, Pablo J. Alhama Blanco, and Mohammed Abderrahim. 2020. "An Open Simulation Strategy for Rapid Control Design in Aerial and Maritime Drone Teams: A Comprehensive Tutorial" Drones 4, no. 3: 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030037

APA Style

Velasco, O., Valente, J., Alhama Blanco, P. J., & Abderrahim, M. (2020). An Open Simulation Strategy for Rapid Control Design in Aerial and Maritime Drone Teams: A Comprehensive Tutorial. Drones, 4(3), 37. https://doi.org/10.3390/drones4030037

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