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naus

naus is a simulator for swarms of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs). It allows you to program the behavior of underwater robots, either individually or as part of a swarm.

It is written in Rust, using Bevy as the core engine, Rapier for physics, and ZeroMQ for networking.

Key Features

• Swarm control – Program interactions between multiple AUVs and test collective navigation algorithms.
• Flexible scene modeling – Create underwater environments using common 3D modeling tools like Blender.
• Deep control over vehicles – Access telemetry, control thrusters, and process data from two onboard cameras (front and bottom) for computer vision tasks.
• Multi-language support – Write code in any language (Python is officially supported with a simple and user-friendly API).
• Open source – The project is available under the free GNU GPL 3 license, allowing you to freely use, modify, and improve the simulator.
• Cross-platform – Runs on Linux, Windows, and macOS.

See documentation.

Examples

Computer vision demo scene. One AUV detects shapes, another recognizes ArUco markers, and a third moves along a ring.

Seismic survey mission scene. Seven AUVs scan the area within defined grid cells. Seismic activity is visualized on a graph.

Installation

1. Install Rust Install Rust using rustup and ensure you're using the stable toolchain:

   rustup default stable
   

2. Clone the repository

   git clone https://codeberg.org/naus/naus
   cd naus
   

3. Build the project Prebuilt binaries are not currently provided. Build the project in release mode for optimal performance:

   cargo build --release
   

   The binary will be located at:

   • Linux/macOS: ./target/release/naus
   • Windows: .\target\release\naus.exe

4. Install the Python API From PyPI:

   pip install naus
   

   Or from source:

   pip install ./python
   

Usage

Let’s run a computer vision example.

Start the simulator:

./target/release/naus # Linux/macOS
.\target\release\naus.exe # Windows

In the opened window, click Load Scene and select the file assets/playground.glb.

Then run the mission:

python python/examples/playground.py

Roadmap

1. Optimize the physics model and rendering performance
2. Plugin support for additional sensors
3. Expand the documentation
4. Add more example scenes and missions

Project Structure

naus/
├── src/ # Simulator source code
│ ├── auv.rs # AUV simulation logic
│ ├── net.rs # Networking (ZeroMQ)
│ ├── ui.rs # Graphical UI
│ ├── main.rs # Simulator entry point
├── python/ # Python API
│ ├── naus/ # Python API module
│ ├── examples/ # Example scripts
├── docs/ # Documentation (MkDocs)
├── media/ # Media (e.g. branding)
├── assets/ # Assets (scenes, models)
├── README.md # Project overview
└── LICENSE # GNU GPL 3 license

Full Documentation

• Python API
• Creating a Custom Scene
• Network Interface Specification
• Developer Information