<div align="center"> <img src="https://mrpt.github.io/imgs/mvsim_logo-bg-150px.png" alt="MVSim logo" width="150"/>

MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim)

Lightweight, realistic 2.5D dynamics simulator for mobile robots and multi-agent research

Documentation · Installation · Demo worlds · Cite

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Overview

MVSim simulates wheeled robots and vehicles with realistic physics, sensors, and multi-agent support. It is designed to be fast enough for large-scale experiments while remaining accurate enough for dynamics and sensor research.

Key properties:

• Fully configured via XML world files — no code changes needed for most experiments.
• Works standalone, as a ROS 2 node, or embedded in a C++ / Python application.
• Headless mode for CI pipelines and Docker containers.
• Multi-vehicle worlds with mutual sensing (robots see each other in LiDAR).

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/766db164-2d16-44f4-acbf-2f15b73c1ab3

https://github.com/user-attachments/assets/93c95aeb-71e9-4c35-b1dc-ba895c79daf7

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Features

Vehicle dynamics

| Model | Description | |---|---| | differential | 2-wheel or 4-wheel differential drive (e.g. TurtleBot, Jackal) | | ackermann | Car-like Ackermann steering with kinematic or dynamic control | | ackermann_drivetrain | Ackermann + realistic mechanical differentials (open / Torsen, 2WD / 4WD) | | Articulated | Trailer-style articulated vehicles |

Controllers available: raw torque, twist PID, ideal twist.

Friction models: default Coulomb, Ward-Iagnemma (off-road), ellipse (slip angle + slip ratio).

Sensors

| Sensor | Notes | |---|---| | 3D LiDARs | Velodyne VLP-16, Ouster OS1, Hesai Helios-32 (26°/31°/70° FOV) | | 2D LiDAR | Generic + RPLidar A2; optional GPU-based 3D ray-tracing | | RGB camera | Pinhole model, configurable intrinsics | | RGBD camera | Depth + color (RealSense / Xtion-style), publishes pointcloud, depth image | | IMU | White noise + bias random-walk (Forster 2016 model) | | GNSS / GPS | Requires georeferenced world; configurable noise |

World elements

• Occupancy grid maps (image or MRPT binary)
• Elevation meshes (terrain with height)
• Textured 3D blocks and custom meshes (.dae, .obj)
• Friction zones (spatially-varying mu, rolling resistance)
• Multi-storey environments
• Lighting configuration
• Remote resource caching

Interfaces

• ROS 2 — full topic / TF / parameter interface (see mvsim_node docs)
• ZMQ / Protobuf — language-agnostic pub/sub for custom clients
• Python — direct API access
• C++ library — embed the simulator in your application

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Installation

ROS 2 (recommended)

sudo apt install ros-$ROS_DISTRO-mvsim

Then follow the first-steps guide.

Build from source

git clone https://github.com/MRPT/mvsim.git --recursive

See full installation instructions for cmake and colcon build options.

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Quick start

Standalone:

mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_warehouse.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_2robots.world.xml
mvsim launch mvsim_tutorial/demo_greenhouse.world.xml

ROS 2:

ros2 launch mvsim demo_warehouse.launch.py
ros2 launch mvsim demo_depth_camera.launch.py

Move the robot with w/a/s/d (keyboard) or any standard cmd_vel publisher. In multi-robot worlds, press 1, 2, … to select the active robot.

See all demo worlds for the full list, including outdoor, road circuits, multi-storey, logistics center, articulated vehicles, and more.

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ROS 2 build status

| Distro | Dev build | Binary releases | Version | |---|---|---|---| | Humble (u22.04) | | amd64 arm64 | | | Jazzy (u24.04) | | amd64 arm64 | | | Kilted (u24.04) | | amd64 arm64 | | | Rolling (u24.04) | | amd64 arm64 | |

<details> <summary>EOL distros</summary>

| Distro | Last stable version | |---|---| | ROS 1 Noetic (u20.04) | | | ROS 2 Iron (u22.04) | |

</details>

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ROSCon talk

Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides):

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Citation

If you use MVSim in your research, please cite:

@article{blanco2023mvsim,
  title   = {MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim): Lightweight dynamics simulator for multiagents and mobile robotics research},
  journal = {SoftwareX},
  volume  = {23},
  pages   = {101443},
  year    = {2023},
  doi     = {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}
}

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License

3-clause BSD License. Copyright (C) 2014-2026 Jose Luis Blanco (University of Almeria) and contributors.