Summary
In this chapter, we mainly replicated what we have already done in the previous chapter with Gazebo, using other robot simulators: CoppeliaSim and Webots. These are multiplatform simulation software programs that integrate different technologies and are very versatile. Thanks to their intuitive UIs, they might be easier to use for new users.
We mainly simulated two robots, one imported using the URDF file of the seven-DOF arm designed in previous chapters, with the other being a popular differential wheeled robot provided by the Webots simulation models. We learned how to interface and control the robot joints of our model with ROS and how to move a differential-drive mobile robot using topics.
In the next chapter, we will see how to interface the robotic arm with the ROS MoveIt package and the mobile robot with the Navigation
stack.