Webots is a robot simulator that provides a complete development environment to model, program, and simulate robots, vehicles, and mechanical systems.
The tool addresses the need for accessible robotics simulation by combining a 3D physics engine with sensor simulation and visualization capabilities. It allows developers to design robot behavior through programming, test it in a virtual environment with realistic physics and sensor feedback, and iterate without requiring physical hardware. The simulator supports multiple programming languages through integration with ROS and ROS2, enabling users to apply their simulations to real robotic systems.
Webots suits beginners entering robotics as well as researchers and industry practitioners developing autonomous vehicles and mechanical systems. The project emphasizes beginner-friendly workflows with in-depth tutorials focused on educational objectives. It supports multi-platform deployment and offers online simulation capabilities through webots.cloud, making it accessible without local installation. The tool's feature set includes a 3D engine, physics simulation, computer vision capabilities, fluid dynamics, and real-time sensor visualization including lidar simulation and camera object recognition.
The project maintains active continuous integration with nightly testing across its supported platforms. Development is organized around regular releases with pre-compiled binaries, alongside nightly builds for those tracking the latest changes. The team provides comprehensive documentation including tutorials, known bugs lists with workarounds, and contribution guidelines for those building from source. Bug reporting and feature requests are actively managed through the GitHub issue tracker with a structured submission process.
