Virtual Drive Practise

Hi guys,

I’ve always been curious if it was possible to practise driving digitally. I’m wondering as I don’t have a lot of time to practise as we also have other priorities for our robot. Just considering if we could like connect an Xbox controller to a device and practise with some kind of simulation, anyone seen programs like this?

(All we really need is a square in the middle of a screen that can be controlled via tank drive and Xbox controller)

Here is my odometry game which pretty much allows you to control a box which immitates robot movement. You are able to download and edit the game yourself:

1 Like

One answer that is the easiest: Roblox
I have almost made a working game in Roblox. I had the physics hard-coded but the workload of college got to me during the time so it was an incomplete project. I don’t know if I can make a game or simulation anymore as it’s not profitable.

1 Like

You could take a look at XRC here:

9 Likes

I know it sounds irrelevant, but playing first person video games can help develop reaction time. Mobile or console, doesn’t matter. However, this does not replace the need for physical drive practice. I hope this helps!

2 Likes

I definitely agree. When it comes to driving, the key takeaways are:

  1. Good reaction time
  2. Fast decision making
  3. Precise movement

For 1 and 2, any first person shooter, PC or Console, with reliance on strategy (like Valorant or CS:GO) can help you improve reaction time and fast decision making. You are practicing the intellectual part, but you will still need to practice with your robot.

As for 3, there are many ways you can improve this but I found the most affordable way to practice is to use an XBox controller in an FPV drone simulator game. You will improve your spatial awareness with respect to the way you control your drone. And you will learn over time how to move the drone with mechanical motion. Alternatively, buying an inexpensive FPV drone and taking it through drone courses will help as well.

3 Likes

If you use the pre release version found here: https://xrcsimulator.org/pre-release/
You can use 299V’s robot to play over under

2 Likes

Thanks for the suggestion. I have connected my Xbox controller to my Mac and started up your roblox game but the game doesn’t seem to respond to the controller (unsurprisingly). Could you please go into further detail on how to configure the controller?

1 Like

micahy321 just make sure you don’t get addicted and neglect your robot

2 Likes

I’m sorry to revive this topic butI just have one question real quick. Isn’t there a website somewhere for pure pursuit/ odometry practice?

1 Like

I know it might be a little bit more complex than what you’re looking for, but our VRC team uses a full physics simulator with CAD of our robot to train our AI model. Theoretically, it has compatibility with a controller, however, we have been busy making the robot and AI work and thus haven’t had time to test it yet. But, our team is planning on doing virtual driving practice in the future, which opens up plenty of opportunities allowing us to drive a bot that hasn’t been built yet.

I tried this briefly last season, but disliked it for virtual driving due to the lack of ability to import robots.