Modeling and Operating Robotic Environments Using Gazebo/ROS

Tools like ROS and Gazebo have become more important in light of new building concepts with embedded robotic systems. Over centuries buildings have always been viewed as static structures resistant to changes. However, today they are also viewed as kinetic structures capable of change and adaptation. The concept of kinetic architecture or dynamic buildings is currently being exploited by many architects around the globe. Some projects use these concepts to make the building more sustainable and intelligent while other projects employ these concepts for assistance. However, complex kinetic architectures have to be modeled, simulated and operated. As in architecture such a program currently is not available we deploy knowledge and tools from robotics. For this purpose, the best suited open source system Robot Operating System (ROS) enables you to create a virtual model of the world and integrate any types of sensors and robots. With the help of additional tools ROS allows to program or to perform manual management of behavior of individual objects or their parts. To simulate a kinetic, dynamic or assistive environment in ROS requires creating a 3D model of the environment. Next, the 3D model is divided into small parts, connecting with joints that have different properties in mobility. Furthermore, it is possible to create a model of human beings (set a certain degree of mobility for him, for example, a person in a wheelchair) to check overall performance of a robot assisted man-machine environment.