Virtual RobotX (VRX)

This repository is the home to the source code and software documentation for the VRX simulation environment, which supports simulation of unmanned surface vehicles in marine environments.

• Designed in coordination with RobotX organizers, this project provides arenas and tasks similar to those featured in past and future RobotX competitions, as well as a description of the WAM-V platform.
• For RobotX competitors this simulation environment is intended as a first step toward developing tools prototyping solutions in advance of physical on-water testing.
• We also welcome users with simulation needs beyond RobotX. As we continue to improve the environment, we hope to offer support to a wide range of potential applications.

A new modernization development: Gazebo Harmonic and ROS 2 Jazzy

Note

This development effort was executed by the Honu Robotics team, thanks to the sponsorship of RoboNation.

We are happy to announce that the repository has been ported to use supported versions of Gazebo and ROS 2:

• Code is now working with Gazebo Harmonic and ROS 2 Jazzy
• This is the recommended configuration for new users.
• Users who wish to continue running Gazebo Garden and ROS 2 Humble can still do so using the humble branch of this repository.

The VRX Competition

The VRX environment is also the "virtual venue" for the VRX Competition. Please see our Wiki for tutorials and links to registration and documentation relevant to the virtual competition.

Getting Started

• Watch the Release 2.3 Highlight Video.
• The VRX Wiki provides documentation and tutorials.
• The instructions assume a basic familiarity with the ROS environment and Gazebo. If these tools are new to you, we recommend starting with the excellent ROS Tutorials
• For technical problems, please use the project issue tracker to describe your problem or request support.

Reference

If you use the VRX simulation in your work, please cite our summary publication, Toward Maritime Robotic Simulation in Gazebo:

@InProceedings{bingham19toward,
  Title                    = {Toward Maritime Robotic Simulation in Gazebo},
  Author                   = {Brian Bingham and Carlos Aguero and Michael McCarrin and Joseph Klamo and Joshua Malia and Kevin Allen and Tyler Lum and Marshall Rawson and Rumman Waqar},
  Booktitle                = {Proceedings of MTS/IEEE OCEANS Conference},
  Year                     = {2019},
  Address                  = {Seattle, WA},
  Month                    = {October}
}

🛠️ Getting Help and Contributing

VRX is an open source project supported by the community. If you run into issues, need help, or have suggestions:

• 💬 Ask for help or report bugs by opening an issue. Please include as much detail as possible, including:

  • Steps to reproduce the issue
  • Your system setup (OS, ROS version, etc.)
  • Relevant error messages or logs

• 🛠️ Found a fix or improvement? We welcome contributions! Submit a pull request with your proposed changes.

• 📫 Please do not email the maintainers with technical questions. Using GitHub issues helps ensure that questions and solutions are visible and searchable for the whole community.

Your feedback and participation help make VRX better for everyone — thank you for contributing!

Contributors

Note

The Honu Robotics team, thanks to the sponsorship of RoboNation is currently the maintainer of this repository.

We continue to receive important improvements from the community. We have done our best to document this on our Contributors Wiki.