ROS Index
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
 |
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
 |
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
 |
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
 |
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) |  |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) |  |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) |  |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) |  |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
No version for distro github showing humble. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
No version for distro galactic showing humble. Known supported distros are highlighted in the buttons above.
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_tutorials | |
| mrpt_path_planning |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
|
| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_rbpf_slam |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
No message files found.
Services
No service files found
Plugins
No plugins found.
Recent questions tagged mvsim at Robotics Stack Exchange
Package Summary
| Version | 1.2.0 |
| License | BSD |
| Build type | CATKIN |
| Use | RECOMMENDED |
Repository Summary
| Description | |
| Checkout URI | https://github.com/ual-arm-ros-pkg/mvsim.git |
| VCS Type | git |
| VCS Version | develop |
| Last Updated | 2026-03-01 |
| Dev Status | DEVELOPED |
| Released | RELEASED |
| Contributing |
Help Wanted (-)
Good First Issues (-) Pull Requests to Review (-) |
Package Description
A lightweight multivehicle simulation framework.
Additional Links
Maintainers
- Jose-Luis Blanco-Claraco
Authors
No additional authors.
MultiVehicle simulator (MVSim)
Lightweight, realistic dynamical simulator for 2D (“2.5D”) vehicles and robots. It is tailored to analysis of vehicle dynamics, wheel-ground contact forces and accurate simulation of typical robot sensors (e.g. 2D and 3D lidars).
This package includes C++ libraries, standalone applications, and ROS 1 and ROS 2 nodes.
License: 3-clause BSD License Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco jlblanco@ual.es (University of Almeria) and collaborators
Please, refer to the MVSim SoftwareX paper (or the ArXiV preprint) for a gentle introduction to the project architecture. If you want to cite MVSim in your work, please use:
@article{blanco2023mvsim,
title = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
journal = {SoftwareX},
volume = {23},
pages = {101443},
year = {2023},
issn = {2352-7110},
doi = {https://doi.org/10.1016/j.softx.2023.101443},
url = {https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352711023001395},
author = {José-Luis Blanco-Claraco and Borys Tymchenko and Francisco José Mañas-Alvarez and Fernando Cañadas-Aránega and Ángel López-Gázquez and José Carlos Moreno}
}
ROSCon talk
Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides here):
Installation
See installation documentation for all the details and options.
The easiest way to install if you already have ROS 1 or ROS 2 is:
sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim
Then jump to next steps to see how to launch some of the demo worlds.
Demo videos
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3
https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7
Build matrix status
| Distro | Build dev | Build releases | Stable version |
|---|---|---|---|
| ROS 2 Humble (u22.04) | amd64 arm64 |
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| ROS 2 Jazzy @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
|
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| ROS 2 Kilted @ u24.04 | amd64 arm64 |
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| ROS 2 Rolling (u24.04) | amd64 arm64 |
|
| EOL distro | Stable version |
|---|---|
| ROS 1 Melodic (u18.04) | |
| ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Foxy (u20.04) | |
| ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |
Docs
If you clone this repository, remember to checkout the git submodules too:
git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive
Launch demos
See more on first steps here.
Standalone:
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/test_mesh.world.xml
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
CHANGELOG
Changelog for package mvsim
1.2.0 (2026-02-24)
- Merge pull request #94 from MRPT/feat/tune-pid Feature: tune pid
- Support zones with different friction and rolling resistance
- Better docs, expose more params
- FIX: sliding bug on slopes
- Add new unit test for ramps bug
- fix stop exactly with any controller. Add rolling resistance
- new PID tuning tool
- add backwards compat method
- Merge pull request #93 from MRPT/feat/add-trajectory-tests Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- CsvLogger: feature not to write to disk
- minor edits in demo world
- Fix bug in velocity composition
- Clearer distinction between COM and REF point velocities
- Add unit test for vehicle trajectory
- Merge pull request #92 from MRPT/feat/truck-trailer-demo Feat/truck-trailer-demo
- DefaultFriction: fix missing logged variables
- Add new Ackermann ideal twist controller
- Revert "fix bug in setTwist()": it was actually a serious regression This reverts commit 07a9fd2a0ab5b4665a4f2d07638f75c1737dbdec.
- clang-tidy warning fixes
- Add env var MVSIM_COLLISION_SHAPE_CACHE_VERBOSE
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.1.0 (2026-02-16)
- Merge pull request #91 from MRPT/fix/lidar-3d Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Lidar3D: fix min clip bug; add real intensity color
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
1.0.0 (2026-02-08)
- Merge pull request #89 from MRPT/fix/elevation-2-wheels Fix elevation maps for 2-wheels vehicles
- Merge pull request #88 from MRPT/feat/human-actors Add: human actors
- Merge pull request #86 from MRPT/feat/publish-log-to-ros Optional publish to ROS2 all CsvLogger entries
- Merge pull request #85 from MRPT/feat/per-block-scale Feat/per-block-scale
- Implement per block scale (Fixes #38)
- Merge pull request #84 from MRPT/fix/box2d-bugs Fix/box2d-bugs
- docs: add ROS2 topics
- fix bug in setTwist()
- Fix wrong collision detection (Fixes #42)
- Fix linear acceleration
- Merge pull request #83 from MRPT/feat/new-joints Implement joints between archors
- Demo worlds: update to add RGBD camera in greenhouse
- ROS node: fix missing publication of RGBD CameraInfo for RGB channel
- Merge pull request #82 from MRPT/feat/rgbd-publish-new-types RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- RGBD cameras: implement publishing depth and RGB clouds
- Merge pull request #81 from MRPT/fix/py-bytes Fix: use py-bytes
- Fix trying to decode strings as utf-8 (Closes #62)
- Merge pull request #80 from MRPT/feat/imu-noise IMU: add random walk and fix bug in acceleration
- Fix g sign
- Bump copyright year
- BUG FIX: Fix wrong linear acceleration in IMU readings
- Implement IMU noise model with random walk biases
- Rename ROS1 launch files so they don't interfere with autocomplete for ROS2
- indoor_outdoor demo: add IMU to robot
- Contributors: Jose Luis Blanco-Claraco
0.16.0 (2026-01-29)
- docs: add new demo worlds
- Remove debian leftover
- Merge pull request #78 from MRPT/feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world Feat/new-indoor-outdoor-world
- fix: ros node didn't publish CGenericPointsMap
- Functional walls with doors and windows with thickness
- Update vertical plane to have doors, windows, and thickness
- fix: lidar3d error with latest mrpt api
- docs: improve vehicles and physics docs
- CircleCI: update to build for u22.04
- Remove #if pragmas for too old mrpt versions
- Implement GNSS honor 'gps_no_coverage' property
File truncated at 100 lines see the full file
Package Dependencies
System Dependencies
Dependant Packages
| Name | Deps |
|---|---|
| mrpt_path_planning | |
| mrpt_rbpf_slam |
Launch files
- launch/launch_world.launch
- Generic ROS1 launch file
-
- world_file
- headless [default: False]
- do_fake_localization [default: True]
- publish_tf_odom2baselink [default: True]
- force_publish_vehicle_namespace [default: False]
- use_rviz [default: True]
- rviz_config_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.rviz]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_1robot.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_1robot.world.xml]
- mvsim_do_fake_localization [default: true]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_2robots.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_depth_camera.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_depth_camera.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_greenhouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml]
- headless [default: false]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_jackal.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_jackal.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_turtlebot_world.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_turtlebot_world.world.xml]
- mvsim_tutorial/ros1_warehouse.launch
- ROS1 launch file. See *.launch.py files for ROS2 launch files
-
- world_file [default: $(find mvsim)/mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml]
Messages
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Services
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Plugins
No plugins found.