RoboSoft 2025 Simulators Hack-a-Thon

Tuesday 22 April 2025

Registration

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Description

In the past few years a multitude of soft robotics simulators have emerged, each with its unique characteristics and models, and each suitable for different subsets of applications. The variety of simulators has recently blossomed with the arrival of differentiable simulators. As a result, it can be challenging for new researchers to decide which simulator is most suitable for their project.

This event will provide brief overview talks of existing simulators and then we will spend the bulk of our time running an “install-fest” and “hack-a-thon” using these simulators. As a group, we will solicit simulator submissions from the community, develop a rubric to judge them by, and then assess the simulators using the rubric. This highly interactive and exciting process aims to unite the community, foster collaboration, and develop common resources for researchers looking to use soft robotic simulators.

The bulk of our time will be spent with two exciting hands-on activities. First, we will host an “install-fest”, where participants are challenged to install as many simulators as they can on their personal computers. We will strive to have participants with MacOS, Windows, and Linux machines so that the diverse range of research environments is reflected in the audience. Participants will be asked to assess each simulator using our developed rubric. As participants are doing this, organizers will be circulating to help participants with the process.

Next we will facilitate a “hack-a-thon”, where participants are challenged to implement a choice of simple optimization tasks (grasping, locomotion, etc) using an off-the-shelf optimizer such as CMA-ES. Once again, the participants will be asked to assess the simulator’s ability to achieve this integration using our rubric, and organizers will circulate to facilitate.

We’ll end the event with a short summary discussion of our experiences, and will gather assessments back together for our website.

Tentative Schedule