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avidbots/flatland

A performance-focused 2D robot simulator for ROS that runs robot models in lightweight flat-world environments.

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What is it?

Flatland is a 2D robot simulator built for ROS. It simulates robots moving in flat, top-down environments, which makes it a lighter alternative to full 3D simulators when the task only needs planar motion, such as navigation testing.

The project is built in C++ and uses Box2D as its physics engine. It is installed into a catkin workspace and built with catkin build, and it lists rosdep for installing missing dependencies. A separate turtlebot_flatland repository is referenced as a quick start for running the TurtleBot navigation stack in the simulator.

Documentation covers general usage and a Doxygen-generated API reference.

Key features

  • 01Simulates robots in 2D top-down environments for ROS.
  • 02Uses Box2D as the physics engine.
  • 03Built and installed as a catkin workspace package.
  • 04Provides a TurtleBot navigation example via turtlebot_flatland.
  • 05Includes online usage docs and an API reference.

Use cases

  • Testing ROS navigation stacks without a full 3D simulator.
  • Prototyping mobile robot behavior in planar environments.
  • Running lightweight simulations for TurtleBot-style robots.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Clone flatland into your catkin workspace's src folder

  2. 2

    Install missing rosdeps from your catkin workspace

    rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src
  3. 3

    Build the workspace with catkin

    catkin build

Things to know

  • Requires ROS and a catkin workspace to build and run.
  • The README lists no release version, so there is no versioned release to pin.

In collections

Robotics & embodied AI projects

Topics

#ros#robotics#simulation#2d-simulator#cpp#box2d#2d#flatland#hacktoberfest

FAQ

What is flatland?
A performance-focused 2D robot simulator for ROS that runs robot models in lightweight flat-world environments. Flatland is a 2D robot simulator built for ROS. It simulates robots moving in flat, top-down environments, which makes it a lighter alternative to full 3D simulators when the task only needs planar motion, such as navigation testing.
Is flatland free to use? What license does it have?
flatland is open source under the BSD-3-Clause license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is flatland still maintained?
Updated within 6 months. The last commit to flatland was on Oct 5, 2026.
What can I use flatland for?
Testing ROS navigation stacks without a full 3D simulator. Prototyping mobile robot behavior in planar environments. Running lightweight simulations for TurtleBot-style robots.
How do I install flatland?
Clone flatland into your catkin workspace's src folder Install missing rosdeps from your catkin workspace: rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src Build the workspace with catkin: catkin build
Where can I get flatland?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/avidbots/flatland

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

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