Simulations play a crucial role in robotics research and education. This paper presents the OpenUAV testbed, an open-source, easy-to-use, web-based, and reproducible software system that enables students and researchers to run robotic simulations on the cloud. The key contributions of the paper are threefold. First, OpenUAV saves students and researchers from tedious and complicated software setup by providing web-browser based Linux desktop sessions with robotics software like Gazebo, ROS, PX4 vehicles, ground control software, and swarm simulation capabilities. Second, a containerized desktop session provides the necessary means to save an individual's research work with its dependencies for future reproducibility of the work. Third, the platform provides a mechanism to support photorealistic robotics simulations by combining Unity game engine based camera rendering and Gazebo physics. The paper describes a methodology for creating such a photorealistic aquatic simulation for autonomous underwater vehicles. We also present the various academic and research use-cases of this platform to improve robotics education and research, especially during times like the COVID-19 pandemic, when virtual collaboration is necessary.

中文翻译：

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OpenUAV Swarm 仿真试验台：用于现场机器人的协作设计工作室

模拟在机器人研究和教育中起着至关重要的作用。本文介绍了 OpenUAV 测试平台，这是一个开源、易于使用、基于 Web 且可重复的软件系统，使学生和研究人员能够在云上运行机器人模拟。该论文的主要贡献有三方面。首先，OpenUAV 通过提供基于 Web 浏览器的 Linux 桌面会话以及 Gazebo、ROS、PX4 车辆、地面控制软件和群体模拟功能等机器人软件，使学生和研究人员免于繁琐而复杂的软件设置。其次，容器化桌面会话提供了必要的手段来保存个人的研究工作及其依赖项，以供未来的工作重现。第三，该平台通过结合基于 Unity 游戏引擎的相机渲染和 Gazebo 物理，提供了一种支持逼真机器人模拟的机制。该论文描述了一种为自主水下航行器创建这种逼真的水上模拟的方法。我们还介绍了该平台的各种学术和研究用例，以改善机器人教育和研究，尤其是在 COVID-19 大流行等需要虚拟协作的时期。