Robot Simulator – Domo arigato Mr. Roboto?

This time around I'm gonna review one of those very special Simulators. Yeah, strange things exist but this software could be quite usefull for you. LadsGents, get to know about Robot Simulator.

(I like to move move it, you like to: MOVE IT!)

Why crashtest bots in real life?
I once had RC stuff like helicopters and RC cars but I selled them because I knew if I would try to steer those things, they would crash the hard way. The only thing I was able to fly was a pair of robo-birds and they got attacked by cats and dogs. You guess it, in a video game such problems don't even exist and in my opinion the respawn part is the best thing at it. And yeah, the industry also does it that way, using their highly advanced Simulation environments before testing things in reality.

"It's a game". No, it's not, but it's fun + it's educational
This game comes from the developer of the almost unkown but very good Vehicle Simulator and the Virtual Sailor. It is like a Sandbox for your robotics projects. You can build robots, add code and test the whole thing within a scenery of choice. The physics engine acts like real stuff. The DirectX 9 delivers proper graphics and the integrated voice-speech is fun, too. A good Joystick support is also part of the whole thing.

Two choices: Control the robot or make it run artifical
You will need a basic knowledge of the programming language BASIC but you don't have to know much since there are many sliders and options on screen that allow a simple and fast control over the robots. Every axis can be adjusted by the user. On the other hand you can plot courses and create a semi intelligent bots that do what you want them to.

Robot types
Different types of robots are included along with components and tutorials. Those given robots are big fun. You can play with a desktop size rocket, a car that has laser, a tank like moving bot, a LED board of even a robotic spider.

Many possibilities

• You could create your own drones and toys.
• You could create a Tele Presence system like Sheldon from Big Bang Theory.
• You could create a kitchen service buttler bot.
• Unfortunately, the creation of FemBots seems to be impossible.

Summary
This game is not for free but you can use the base version with only a little of limitations. The full version can be ordered for 20 bucks. I recommend to download the Demo first. This way you could sneak into it and play around and in best case it wont be boring (depends on you). I still need to learn more about this Sim but one thing is for sure: It's better to test things inside a virtual environment.


Disclaimer: Do not create super intelligent robots, please. Scientists believe that one day robots will be more advanced than humans so let's just avoid the Matrix effect. Speaking of such, it would be wise to not introduce this Simulator to the Cleverbot because his mood is often in a bad condition and he prefers to get mad at people instead of having a good conversation. Hehe, just kidding, at least a bit. ;)