CoppeliaSim Edu — The Complete Guide: A Free Robotics Simulator for Schools and Universities
CoppeliaSim, formerly V-REP, is a robotics simulation environment: you build a scene with arms, mobile robots, sensors and obstacles, define behaviour with scripts and run the simulation. The Edu edition is intended for teaching.
CoppeliaSim Edu
Coppelia Robotics
A robot simulator with kinematics, dynamics engines, sensors and scripting — for educational use at schools and universities only.
Get it from the vendorWhat you get
- Dynamics engines — several physics engines to choose from.
- Forward and inverse kinematics — for arms and mechanisms.
- Collision detection — between the robot and its surroundings.
- Sensors — simulated sensors in the scene.
- Scripting — defining behaviour and testing control algorithms.
Who may use it for free
The Edu edition is free exclusively for students, pupils, teachers and professors at schools and universities. It is not allowed for companies, research institutions, non-profits or any commercial use. For commercial use there are paid Pro and Lite editions, available on request from the company.
Related tools
For simulators with no usage restriction — Webots and Gazebo. For fast physics simulation — MuJoCo.
Webots
Cyberbotics
Approachable robot simulator with a library of ready robots and environments, common in teaching.
Get it from the vendor
Gazebo
Open Robotics
3D robotics simulator with physics and simulated sensors, integrated with ROS.
Get it from the vendor
MuJoCo
Google DeepMind
A fast physics engine for robotics, biomechanics and machine learning.
Get it from the vendor
PyBullet
Bullet Physics
A physics engine for robotics and reinforcement learning, driven from Python.
Get it from the vendorThe bottom line
A rich tool for teaching robotics and testing algorithms — free for educational institutions only; company work needs a paid licence or an open alternative.