An open-source library collection for simulated robotics. Created during my time in the Xenobot lab. Jun 2023–Present.
ESRoCKit, or the ESRoCKit Simulated Robotic Creatures toolKit, is a collection of (currently) 2 open-source software libraries on Github:
While working as an undergraduate researcher in the Xenobot Lab on a project simulating virtual evolutionary robots in Julia and Python, I realized that the ecosystem for doing simulated robotics in both languages had a lot of room for improvement. Specifically, I needed libraries for two different tasks:
Enter, ESRoCKit.
ESRoCKit-ClothoJl is a native Julia library for generating simulated robot specification XML files. The name is inspired by Clotho, the youngest of the Moirai, aka the Three Fates, and is responsible for spinning the thread of mortals' lives. Currently, ClothoJl is capable of creating:
ClothoJl runs on a native Julia XML file writer I created for this project, also found on GitHub here.
ClothoJl can still be improved by incorporating alternate definition file specifications. Specifically, Mujoco files are a logical next step for ClothoJl to be able to create.
Additionally, ClothoJl can and should be translated into Python to allow for a Python-only workflow.
ESRoCKit-LachesisPy is a Python library for controlling simulated robots in the PyBullet physics engine. Like ClothoJl, LachesisPy is also named after one of the Moirai, Lachesis. Just as Lachesis measures the thread of life spun by Clotho and determines destiny, LachesisPy controls the movement of the simulated robots defined by ClothoJl in the physics engine.