Exploring UUV Development with NauSim: An Open-Source Simulation Platform

Abstract

This article introduces NauSim, an open-source simulation tool designed for developing control algorithms for Unmanned Underwater Vehicle (UUVs). NauSim is targeted at researchers and developers in underwater robotics, with a focus on Machine Learning (ML) based applications. The simulation tool is made in Python, acknowledging its prominence in ML research. Key design principles include a clean, flexible and modular architecture which can be integrated easily with existing control paradigms, thus allowing for the configuration of simulations, the creation of new environments and the addition of sensor interfaces and control models. Furthermore, NauSim emphasizes simplicity in deploying control algorithms from the simulator to target hardware. The article presents three use cases that illustrate the diverse applications of the simulator. The first case study is based on swarm robotics, the second showcases the development of advanced sensor simulations, and the third demonstrates the deployment of a controller developed in NauSim in a 'real world' scenario.