ASPIRE, the technology programme management arm of Abu Dhabi’s Advanced Technology Research Council (ATRC), today announced that Open Robotics will be providing the open-source simulator for the Simulation Phase of the MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge.
The technology will incorporate historic weather data from the Swiss-firm meteoblue for the upcoming phase of the competition, which will see semi-finalists complete inspection and intervention tasks in simulation. The meteorological service company will allow competitors to use historical Abu Dhabi weather data from the past 20 years to simulate realistic weather conditions.
Open Robotics, a global leader in software for robotics simulation and application development, will build the simulation platform on Gazebo and Robot Operating System (ROS). Gazebo is an open-source 3D robotics simulator, which accurately and efficiently simulates robots for a wide range of applications, including maritime robotics.
Dr. Ray O. Johnson, Acting Chief Executive of ASPIRE, said, “With Open Robotics and meteoblue, we have selected two organisations that are both at the pinnacle of their respective fields. The MBZIRC Maritime Grand Challenge will push the boundaries in maritime robotics. We are providing the competitors with a world-class simulation environment with Open Robotics and meteoblue.”
“We are making all the software open source,” Johnson continued. “Our mission is to drive the creation of transformative technologies and encourage global collaboration to help stimulate innovation across the field of maritime robotics. Sharing the technology to help make innovation easier was our goal.”
