Hi everyone,
We posted today on our github’s wiki the anonymized raw data from the survey we conducted this summer on the robotics community needs in terms of simulator.
Some insights from the survey:
- The respondents were mainly robotics researchers and engineers that use simulation tools at least a few times a week
- Their primary areas of research for the most part are computer vision and planning
- Concerning the simulators used by the respondents: gazebo (9 or 11) is the main tool for them. Gazebo ignition is not well known among the respondents, and for those who know it, they do not use it. Unity is known by all by few have used it.
- You will find the assessment of the satisfaction of users regarding their tools along several technical and non technical criteria
- The survey shows also what are the most important criteria for choosing a simulator: physical fidelity / sim to real capabilities / possibilities to customize the simulator are the 3 main cited technical criteria
This survey highlights a lot more facts and trends, as it goes deeper into the uses and requirements of users than most surveys we saw before. There is also a specific focus on simulation for maritime robotics.
You will find on our wiki other surveys we found interesting on simulation needs for robotics practitioners. We will complete our wiki with more data, and with our analysis of these data so that other simulation projects can jump-start more quickly.
These data are the base from which we developed Plankton, the open source simulator for maritime robotics research we released 4 days ago.
We hope you will find this useful! 
Loïc