Simulation of autonomous robots and an interacting audience in a hall.
Author: A. Schiffler, aschiffler@sympatico.ca to contact the author.
Licenced under the LGPL, see the file LICENSE in the archive for details.
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=========================================================================== The_Robots Andreas Schiffler (C) A. Schiffler, 1998, LGPL =========================================================================== This program is a simulation of up to 200 autonomous robots and 3000 people in a hall. The simulation is controlled by a whole range of settings (see sample.conf). It was designed as a simulation of a real multimedia installation for the Expo2000, Hannover, Germany. See the directory ./screenshoots for the look after some sample runs. The file LICENSE contains information on copyright. System Requirements: -------------------- * X-Windows running (preferred resolutions are 16bpp or 32bpp) * GL, GLU and GLUT libraries installed * dialog installed (for start.sh) The program has been developed under Linux OS with gcc and the Mesa-2.6 OpenGL libraries on a RedHat 5.1 Linux distribution. [--- July 2001: It has been found to work on various newer versions of Linux up-to and including Mandrake-Linux 8.0 using kernel 2.4 versions. ---] Compilation: ------------ Maybe edit Makefile for your local configuration. Run make clean make Usage: ------ Run ./the_robots [configuration.file] or ./start.sh To make different simulation runs easier to maintain a "start.sh" script and several sample configuration files are included. To create new configurations, copy "sample.conf" to a new file with the extension .conf and edit it. The first line of the configuration file will be the title in the menu presented bz the start.sh script. The script makes use of the bash-compatible shell commmands and the "dialog" package. Algorithms ---------- * Collision avoidance for both robots and people * Realistic turning behaviour through simulation of kinematics * People walking paths through random splines * Robot flocking using virtual force fields and next-neighbor test * Robot-People awareness through the simulation of 4 IR sensors (N,W,S,E) * Two stage robot collision detection (close range touchless and touch) * Robot group simulation by sharing goalpaths [--- July 2001: The final exhibit made it into the Expo2000 in Hannover, Germany - I never saw it but am sure it must have been just like the simulation. :-) ---]
