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cyberbotics/webots

Open-source robot simulator for modeling, programming and simulating robots, vehicles and mechanical systems.

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What is it?

Webots is a development environment for modeling, programming and simulating robots, vehicles and other mechanical systems. Users build virtual worlds with physics, sensors and actuators, then write controllers that run the same way they would on physical hardware.

The project was first developed at EPFL in 1996 as a research tool for mobile robotics and has been commercialized by Cyberbotics since 1998. It was released as open source in December 2018. The project is positioned as beginner friendly, with tutorials aimed at newcomers to robotics.

Pre-compiled binaries are available for Linux, Windows and macOS, and the project lists ROS and ROS 2 among its topics. Online simulations can also be run through webots.cloud.

Key features

  • 01Models robots, vehicles and mechanical systems with physics simulation.
  • 02Simulates sensors such as lidar and cameras with object recognition.
  • 03Lets users write robot controllers that run against the simulated world.
  • 04Runs on Linux, Windows and macOS.
  • 05Includes beginner tutorials for learning robotics simulation.

Use cases

  • Prototyping robot control algorithms before testing on physical hardware.
  • Teaching robotics and mobile robot programming in courses.
  • Testing autonomous vehicle or sensor setups in simulated environments.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Download pre-compiled binaries from the latest release page

  2. 2

    Check the installation instructions for your platform (Linux, Windows, macOS)

  3. 3

    Or build from source following the wiki and contributing guidelines

Things to know

  • Building from source is more involved and is documented in the wiki rather than the README.

In collections

Computer vision libraries & toolsRobotics & embodied AI projects

Topics

#robotics#robot-simulation#simulation#physics-engine#autonomous-vehicles#ros2#3d-engine#ai#computer-vision#fluid-dynamics

FAQ

What is webots?
Open-source robot simulator for modeling, programming and simulating robots, vehicles and mechanical systems. Webots is a development environment for modeling, programming and simulating robots, vehicles and other mechanical systems. Users build virtual worlds with physics, sensors and actuators, then write controllers that run the same way they would on physical hardware.
Is webots free to use? What license does it have?
webots is open source under the Apache-2.0 license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is webots still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to webots was on Nov 6, 2026.
What can I use webots for?
Prototyping robot control algorithms before testing on physical hardware. Teaching robotics and mobile robot programming in courses. Testing autonomous vehicle or sensor setups in simulated environments.
How do I install webots?
Download pre-compiled binaries from the latest release page Check the installation instructions for your platform (Linux, Windows, macOS) Or build from source following the wiki and contributing guidelines
Where can I get webots?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/cyberbotics/webots

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

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