Gazebo Simulator

Notes, explanations and clarifications

Content Outline

    The Horrible Mess of Naming

    Let’s get things straight: simply looking for information, tutorials or documentation about Gazebo can be a challenging and frustrating task. There are so many names, so many API changes over the years, and no clear guide for navigating resources and filtering out what you actually need.

    Therefore, the following diagram serves as a tool to untangle the confusing world of Gazebo names over the years.

    Therefore, the following diagram serves as a tool to untangle the confusing world of Gazebo names over the years. Keep in mind that this diagram reflects the naming system from an “official point of view” (how Gazebo is referred to in official release notes in Gazebo Forums or OSRF forums). So, it’s natural that with all this mumbo jumbo↗ of names, people use some of them interchangeably (which adds to the confusion), and most of the time you will either have to infer the “proper” name from context or ask for clarification.

    See the Annotated Timeline section for a more detailed walkthrough.

    How of if this map to ROS ?. From the ROS side:

    • Ubuntu 22.04: Humble uses ign (Fortress)
    • Ubuntu 24.04: from Jazzy Jalisco onward use gz
      • Jazzy Jalisco uses Harmonic
      • Kilted Kaiju uses Ionic

    See Summary of Compatible ROS and Gazebo Combinations↗ for a more complete table.

    Gazebo is not the only robot simulator out there, but for better or worse, it is the most popular one in the ROS ecosystem. If you want to explore other options, check out the Robotics Simulators, which focuses exclusively on simulators.

    Annotated Timeline

    Player Stage↗ and Gazebo as a tool. See the ‘History’ section↗

    With the first stable release on October 2012 it was just Gazebo under the OSRF.

    In 2019.03.XX the first major release of Ignition (Gazebo)↗ called Ignition Acropolis: cohexistence of Gazebo (the previous one) and Ignition

    In 2018 gazebo -> gazebo classic

    In 2022.4.6 Ignition changed name to just (Gazebo or in short gz), now the cohexistence is Gazebo and Gazebo Classic. see A new era for Gazebo↗ “we’re taking the opportunity to simplify things, for us and for you.”. A new era for Gazebo - Gazebo Community↗

    In 2021.02: planning to end-of-life (EOL) Migration from Gazebo classic to Ignition Gazebo↗

    External Resources

    -How to Achieve Realistic Visuals in Ignition Gazebo by Cole Biesemeyer↗: nice example of the power of gazebo.