A Flexible MATLAB/Simulink Simulator for Robotic Floating-base Systems in Contact with the Ground

TL;DR

This paper introduces an open-source, flexible MATLAB/Simulink simulator for robotic floating-base systems in contact with the ground, supporting various kinematic configurations and actuator dynamics with easy setup.

Contribution

It presents a novel, modular MATLAB/Simulink-based simulation framework that allows easy customization and integration of complex robot-ground interactions and dynamics.

Findings

Supports open-chain and closed-chain kinematics

Integrates second-order actuator dynamics

Features simple installation and user-friendly interface

Abstract

Physics simulators are widely used in robotics fields, from mechanical design to dynamic simulation, and controller design. This paper presents an open-source MATLAB/Simulink simulator for rigid-body articulated systems, including manipulators and floating-base robots. Thanks to MATLAB/Simulink features like MATLAB system classes and Simulink function blocks, the presented simulator combines a programmatic and block-based approach, resulting in a flexible design in the sense that different parts, including its physics engine, robot-ground interaction model, and state evolution algorithm are simply accessible and editable. Moreover, through the use of Simulink dynamic mask blocks, the proposed simulation framework supports robot models integrating open-chain and closed-chain kinematics with any desired number of links interacting with the ground. The simulator can also integrate second-order actuator dynamics. Furthermore, the simulator benefits from a one-line installation and an easy-to-use Simulink interface.