Moreover, where we can, we need to preserve and exploit structure in the governing equations - this helps us analyze and control the robotic systems we build.” “There aren’t many simulators that can do both. “To develop complex robotic manipulation systems, we need both visual realism and accurate physics,” says Marchese. This side-by-side comparison shows the same perception and motion planning software driving both a real and simulated Robin robotic workcell.

Amazon, for example, uses visual simulators to plan its facilities and approximate how robots will move and interact safely with associates. Many industrial simulations also rely on approximations. So, a car’s acceleration may look realistic, even though the car’s engine is not big enough to generate the force needed to jump across the missing section of a bridge.” “They approximate some of the torques and forces that push and pull an object in the real world. Everything looks physically plausible, but the forces behind the movements aren’t necessarily accurate,” says Andrew Marchese, an Amazon Robotics principal applied scientist who specializes in robotic manipulation. Modern video games simulate worlds that look visually realistic at interactive rates. But these existing tools don’t meet Amazon’s need to develop and scale its fleet of complex robots. Developing robotic systems in a virtual environment can accelerate this process, but it’s harder than it looks.Įngineers have been accelerating new-product design using digital models and virtual simulations for decades. This is especially true for robots designed to interact within and manipulate an ever-changing array of objects in Amazon facilities. Building and fine-tuning robotic systems takes lots of time.

Robot vacuum simulator x