Project number: №24-29-00564
Head of the project: professor Evgeni Magid

Robotic systems are not only expensive objects that interact with people and the environment, but also objects that become dangerous if they are not handled properly. Therefore, before new robotic interaction protocols and algorithms can be integrated into a real robotic system, they are thoroughly tested, firstly in the laboratory, and then, to the extent possible, in a real target environment. In addition to testing in a real environment, virtual ones in simulators are actively used in the robotic testing. Currently, the new approach virtual testing in simulators has become an integral part of the process of creating new technologies in the field of robotics, which is used at the initial stages of development and saves a great number of man-hours and financial costs when creating the first robotics system software and hardware prototypes.

The vast majority of digital models of real robotic systems are created by the manufacturers of these systems or their associated scientific groups in universities and organizations. However, during the robotic projects testing, especially in the field of robot-human interaction, it is important for the simulator to include not only robotic systems high-quality digital models, but also digital environmental objects and digital models of people performing various actions in this environment. Unfortunately, today in the popular simulators’ virtual environments for robotic systems there is a rather limited amount of digital environmental objects of a high quality. For simple small-sized objects (e.g. furniture), for which a simple software implementation of a digital model is sufficient, the quantity and quality of such models in the most popular simulators (e.g. Gazebo or Webots) is satisfactory, however, more complex dynamic models of digital objects are either completely absent and the user has to create them himself every time for the particular project (e.g. doors opening) or must be content with primitive low-quality models (e.g. Gazebo's standard human model).

The project is aimed at qualitative improvements in the field of modelling and virtual validation of robotic systems prototypes, which will allow more realistic and efficient modelling of interaction protocols and algorithms for such systems in the virtual environment of popular robotic simulators. As part of the proposed project, the digital models of the environment available in the most popular simulators, including human models, will be evaluated. The most urgently needed complex digital objects for generic virtual experiments will be identified and the possibilities of their creation in popular simulators will be assessed. Scientific novelty lies in: development of specific requirements for the models of the proposed digital objects and their functionality, which will ensure their realism and efficiency; development of criteria for assessing the quality of the model; development of experimental methods for assessing the quality of the model; digital objects modelling in accordance with the proposed requirements. The digital object model libraries and graphical user interfaces developed within the project are of great practical value, they will help the user create their own models based on the models created by the Kazan Federal University (KFU) team, as well as customize the ready-made models taken from the existing libraries.