MultiVehicle Simulator (MVSim)

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

Documentation · Installation · Demo worlds · Cite

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).

mvsim_demo_warehouse.mp4

mvsim-tractor-trailer.mp4

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

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.

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.

ROS 2 build 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 Lyrical (u26.04)		amd64 arm64
ROS 2 Rolling (u26.04)		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)

ROSCon talk

Spanish talk with English slides and subtitles (slides):

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}
}

mvsim