Gazebo
Gazebo is an open-source platform for realistic simulation of robots, sensors and engineering environments. It is used worldwide in research, education and industrial development and is one of the most important simulation tools in the ROS ecosystem (Robot Operating System).
This tool demonstrates key Gazebo functions in a browser-based 3D environment. Users can control virtual robots, simulate sensors and analyse robot system behaviour under realistic conditions – without physical hardware.
What is Gazebo?
Gazebo enables creating virtual worlds with realistic physics, lighting and sensor simulation. Developers can test robots and control software before deploying them on real machines. This reduces development time, lowers risk and helps validate functionality early in the project.
Key features of Gazebo
- Physics simulation with collision detection and motion dynamics
- Simulation of joints, motors and forces
- Support for physics engines such as ODE, Bullet and DART
- 3D visualisation of robots and environments
- Cameras, LiDAR, IMU, GPS and depth sensors
- Real-time visualisation via modern WebGL technology
- Import and use of complex robot models
- Support for single- and multi-robot systems
ROS and ROS 2 integration
Gazebo is often used together with ROS and ROS 2. Robot models can be integrated via URDF or SDF. Control software communicates with simulated sensors and actuators the same way as with real hardware. This enables efficient development and testing of navigation, control and automation tasks.
The combination of Gazebo and ROS enables modern development workflows with simulation, automated tests and continuous integration for robotics projects.
Sensor simulation
A key focus of Gazebo is simulating real sensor systems. Developers can generate and evaluate data from cameras, LiDAR systems, depth sensors, GPS receivers and inertial sensors. This enables developing algorithms for navigation, object recognition, SLAM and autonomous systems.
Typical use cases
- Mobile robots and autonomous vehicles
- Navigation and SLAM development
- Industrial robots and automation
- Automated guided vehicles (AGV/AMR)
- Research and higher education
- Artificial intelligence and reinforcement learning
- Human-robot interaction
- Virtual commissioning of robot systems
Gazebo Classic and modern Gazebo
The original version became known as Gazebo Classic. The current generation is based on a modular architecture and is actively developed. Modern Gazebo versions offer improved performance, more flexible extensibility and tighter integration with ROS 2.
Benefits of simulation before hardware deployment
- Reduced development and test costs
- Early issue detection without risk to real equipment
- Fast validation of new algorithms
- Repeatable test conditions
- Parallel development of software and hardware
- Scalable testing with multiple robots
How does this tool work?
- Select a virtual environment
- Configure robot model and sensors
- Set physics engine
- Start simulation
- Observe robotics data in real time
- Analyse camera, LiDAR and sensor data
- Adjust parameters and test different scenarios
This online tool teaches the basic concepts of robot simulation with Gazebo and shows how virtual test environments can be used to develop modern robotics and automation systems.