Simulation environment for mobile robots testing using ROS and Gazebo

In the process of development a control strategy for mobile robots, simulation is important for testing the software components, robot behavior and control algorithms in different surrounding environments. In this paper we introduce a simulation environment for mobile robots based on ROS and Gazebo. We show that after properly creating the robot models under Gazebo, the code developed for the simulation process can be directly implemented in the real robot without modifications. In this paper autonomous navigation tasks and 3D-mapping simulation using control programs under ROS are presented. Both the simulation and experimental results agree very well and show the usability of the developed environment.