Simulation of Aerial Robotics

Simulation is crucial when working with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). Testing different trajectories and control paradigms in a simulator before implementing them on the real platform ensures not only safety but also facilitates development.

This page presents several simulator options for aerial robotics enthusiasts.

Aerial Robotics simulator list

This list is rendered from the readme of the best-of-robot-simulators list that happens to have an Aerial Robotics Simulator list.

Cosys-AirSim (🥇19 · ⭐ 230 · 📉) - AirSim is a simulator for drones, cars and more, built on Unreal Engine. We expand it with new implementations and.. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/Cosys-Lab/Cosys-AirSim) (👨‍💻 260 · 🔀 78 · 📥 6.6K · 📋 77 - 49% open · ⏱️ 16.04.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/Cosys-Lab/Cosys-AirSim ```
PyFlyt (🥇19 · ⭐ 180) - UAV Flight Simulator for Reinforcement Learning Research. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/jjshoots/PyFlyt) (👨‍💻 11 · 🔀 35 · 📦 37 · 📋 59 - 22% open · ⏱️ 17.06.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/jjshoots/PyFlyt ``` - [PyPi](https://pypi.org/project/pyflyt) (📥 2.5K / month): ``` pip install pyflyt ```
RotorS (🥈18 · ⭐ 1.4K · 💤) - RotorS is a UAV gazebo simulator. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/ethz-asl/rotors_simulator) (👨‍💻 49 · 🔀 680 · 📋 380 - 42% open · ⏱️ 06.07.2021): ``` git clone https://github.com/ethz-asl/rotors_simulator ```
Gym Pybullet Drones (🥈17 · ⭐ 1.6K) - PyBullet Gymnasium environments for single and multi-agent reinforcement learning of quadcopter control. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/utiasDSL/gym-pybullet-drones) (👨‍💻 18 · 🔀 440 · 📋 220 - 48% open · ⏱️ 19.09.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/utiasDSL/gym-pybullet-drones ```
Flightmare (🥈17 · ⭐ 1.2K · 💤) - An Open Flexible Quadrotor Simulator. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/uzh-rpg/flightmare) (👨‍💻 7 · 🔀 360 · 📥 5.9K · 📋 170 - 65% open · ⏱️ 15.05.2023): ``` git clone https://github.com/uzh-rpg/flightmare ```
Project AirSim (🥈16 · ⭐ 280 · 🐣) - Project AirSim is Microsofts evolution of AirSim, an advanced simulation platform for building, training, and testing.. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/iamaisim/ProjectAirSim) (👨‍💻 9 · 🔀 33 · 📥 720 · 📋 23 - 78% open · ⏱️ 18.09.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/iamaisim/ProjectAirSim ```
FlightGoggles (🥈15 · ⭐ 430 · 💤) - A framework for photorealistic hardware-in-the-loop agile flight simulation using Unity3D and ROS. Developed by MIT.. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/mit-aera/FlightGoggles) (👨‍💻 9 · 🔀 97 · 📥 1.6K · 📋 170 - 11% open · ⏱️ 01.04.2024): ``` git clone https://github.com/mit-aera/FlightGoggles ```
Pegasus Simulator (🥈14 · ⭐ 570) - A framework built on top of NVIDIA Isaac Sim for simulating drones with PX4 support and much more. BSD-3 - [GitHub](https://github.com/PegasusSimulator/PegasusSimulator) (👨‍💻 4 · 🔀 100 · 📋 54 - 38% open · ⏱️ 20.07.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/PegasusSimulator/PegasusSimulator ```
Aerial Gym Simulator (🥈14 · ⭐ 570) - Aerial Gym Simulator - Isaac Gym Simulator for Aerial Robots. BSD-3 - [GitHub](https://github.com/ntnu-arl/aerial_gym_simulator) (👨‍💻 4 · 🔀 92 · 📋 44 - 27% open · ⏱️ 30.09.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/ntnu-arl/aerial_gym_simulator ```
Gymfc (🥈14 · ⭐ 430 · 💤) - A universal flight control tuning framework. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/wil3/gymfc) (🔀 100 · 📋 81 - 11% open · ⏱️ 07.10.2021): ``` git clone https://github.com/wil3/gymfc/ ```
rotorpy (🥈14 · ⭐ 190) - A multirotor simulator with aerodynamics for education and research. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/spencerfolk/rotorpy) (👨‍💻 5 · 🔀 41 · 📥 11 · 📋 19 - 15% open · ⏱️ 18.08.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/spencerfolk/rotorpy ```
jMAVSim (🥈14 · ⭐ 97 · 💤) - Simple multirotor simulator with MAVLink protocol support. BSD-3 - [GitHub](https://github.com/PX4/jMAVSim) (👨‍💻 28 · 🔀 210 · 📋 52 - 30% open · ⏱️ 17.12.2021): ``` git clone https://github.com/PX4/jMAVSim ```
CrazyS (🥉13 · ⭐ 170 · 💤) - CrazyS is an extension of the ROS package RotorS, aimed to modeling, developing and integrating the Crazyflie 2.0. Apache-2 - [GitHub](https://github.com/gsilano/CrazyS) (👨‍💻 2 · 🔀 84 · 📋 88 - 10% open · ⏱️ 11.08.2022): ``` git clone https://github.com/gsilano/CrazyS ```
Isaac Drone Racer (🥉9 · ⭐ 120 · 🐣) - Isaac Drone Racer is a reinforcement learning framework for high speed autonomous drone racing, built on top of.. BSD-3 - [GitHub](https://github.com/kousheekc/isaac_drone_racer) (🔀 23 · 📋 5 - 20% open · ⏱️ 20.06.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/kousheekc/isaac_drone_racer ```
Fly Craft (🥉9 · ⭐ 80 · 📈) - An efficient goal-conditioned reinforcement learning environment for fixed-wing UAV velocity vector control based on.. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/GongXudong/fly-craft) (🔀 1 · 📦 4 · ⏱️ 02.07.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/GongXudong/fly-craft ``` - [PyPi](https://pypi.org/project/flycraft) (📥 170 / month): ``` pip install flycraft ```
Flightgear (🥉8 · ⭐ 57 · 💤) - FlightGear open-source flight simulator [flightgear.org](https://www.flightgear.org). gnu-gpl2 - [GitLab](https://gitlab.com/flightgear/flightgear) (🔀 39 · 📋 350 - 45% open · ⏱️ 04.03.2015): ``` git clone https://gitlab.com/flightgear/flightgear ```
FlightForge (🥉7 · ⭐ 13) - FlightForge: An open source Unreal engine based quadcopter simulator. BSD-3 - [GitHub](https://github.com/ctu-mrs/flight_forge) (👨‍💻 4 · 🔀 2 · ⏱️ 17.05.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/ctu-mrs/flight_forge ```
RotorTM (🥉6 · ⭐ 74 · 💤) - GPL-3.0 - [GitHub](https://github.com/arplaboratory/RotorTM) (👨‍💻 3 · 🔀 14 · 📋 4 - 50% open · ⏱️ 09.06.2024): ``` git clone https://github.com/arplaboratory/RotorTM ```
swarm_sync_sim (🥉6 · ⭐ 13) - swarm_sync_sim (also known as sss) is an ultra-lightweight, ROS-based simulator for robotic swarms, including.. BSD-3 - [GitHub](https://github.com/shupx/swarm_sync_sim) (👨‍💻 6 · 🔀 1 · ⏱️ 18.03.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/shupx/swarm_sync_sim ```
Itomori (🥉4 · ⭐ 11) - Gymnasium environment for research of UAVs and risk constraints. MIT - [GitHub](https://github.com/gustavo-moura/itomori) (⏱️ 29.10.2024): ``` git clone https://github.com/gustavo-moura/itomori ```
Ardupilot_Multiagent_Simulation (🥉3 · ⭐ 68 · 🐣) - Simulation environment for multiagent drone systems using Ardupilot, ROS 2, and Gazebo enabling users to spawn and.. GPL-3.0 - [GitHub](https://github.com/aau-cns/Ardupilot_Multiagent_Simulation) (🔀 14 · ⏱️ 31.07.2025): ``` git clone https://github.com/aau-cns/Ardupilot_Multiagent_Simulation ```
Matlab UAV Toolbox (🥉1) - MathWorks Software License Agreement - _No project information available._
Realflight (🥉1) - proprietary software license - _No project information available._
X-plane (🥉1) - proprietary license - _No project information available._
Spleenlab simulator (🥉1) - proprietary - _No project information available._
Show 1 hidden projects... - airsim (🥇32 · ⭐ 18K) - Open source simulator for autonomous vehicles built on Unreal Engine / Unity, from Microsoft AI & Research. MIT


The rendering is not great of this list, so for better experience go to the best-of-robot-simulators Aerial Robotics simulator list itself

Comparison

The following simulators have their own integrated physics simulation and basic rendering capabilities. They are capable of simulating the aerodynamic forces necessary to keep UAVs airborne:

For the following comparison, we have refered to this article:

C. A. Dimmig et al., "Survey of Simulators for Aerial Robots: An Overview and In-Depth Systematic Comparisons," in IEEE Robotics & Automation Magazine, doi: 10.1109/MRA.2024.3433171

The Arxiv prepint of the paper can be found here

Features

List migh not be complete. If you see any error or missing components, feel free to open a PR or issue.

Name Physics Engine Rendering Linux[^1] Windows[^1] MacOS[^1] Interface (S/H)ITL[^6] Active[^2] Hardware requirement[^3] Licence Open source[^4] Interest [^5]
Gazebo (
RotorS,
CrazyS,
PX4 SITL)		 ODE/ Bullet/ DART/ Simbody OGRE ✓
( ✓
✓
✓ )		 ✱
( ✗
✗
✗)		 ✓
( ✗
✗
✗ )		 ROS 1/2, C++, RL PX4, ArduPilot, CF^7 ✓
( ✗
✱
✗ )		 minimal/decent Apache 2.0 ✓ High
Gazebo Bullet/ DART/ TPE OGRE ✓ ✱ ✓ ROS 1/2, C++, Python, RL PX4, ArduPilot, CF ✓ minimal/decent Apache 2.0 ✓ High
Isaac (
Pegasus,
Aerial Gym)		 NVIDIA PhysX/ Flex Vulkan ✓ ✗ ✗ ROS 1/2, Python, RL Pegasus: PX4 ✓ high/demanding NVIDIA OMNIVERSE
(BSD 3)		 ✗
(✓
✓)		 User specific
Webots ODE OpenGL ✓ ✓ ✓ ROS 1/2, C/C++, Python, MATLAB, Java ArduPilot, CF ✓ decent/high Apache 2.0 ✓ Developing
CoppeliaSim Bullet/ODE/Vortex/Newton/MuJoCo OpenGL ✓ ✓ ✓ ROS 1/2, C/C++, Python, MATLAB, Java,Lua,Octave -- ✓ decent/high GNU GPL/Commercial ✱ Decent
AIRsim NVIDIA PhysX Unreal,Unity ✓ ✓ ✓ ROS 1, C++, Python, C#, Java,RL PX4, ArduPilot ✗ medium/high MIT ✓ Low
Flightmare Ad hoc, Gazebo classic Unity ✓ ✗ ✗ ROS 1, C++, RL -- ✗ -- MIT ✓ Low
FlightGoggles Ad hoc Unity ✓ ✱ ✗ ROS 1, C++ Motion capture ✗ -- MIT ✓ Unknown
Gym-pybullet-drones Pybullet OpenGL ✓ ✱ ✓ Python, RL Betaflight, CF ✓ minimal/decent/high MIT (Pybullet: zlib) ✓ High
RotorTM Ad hoc OpenGL ✓ ✗ ✗ ROS 1, Python, MATLAB -- ✓ -- GNU GPL ✓ Unknown
MATLAB UAV Toolbox MATLAB Unreal ✓ ✓ ✓ ROS 2, MATLAB PX4 ✓ -- Proprietary, Commercial ✗ Unknown
O3de NVIDIA PhysX/ NVIDIA Cloth/ AMD TressFX Atom ✓ ✓ ✱ ROS 2[^8] , C++ unknown ✓ decent/high Apache-2.0/MIT ✓ Developing
Drake ad hoc unknown ✓ ✗ ✓ C++, Python, ROS 2 unknown ✓ unknown BSD 3 ✓ Developing
Flightgear unknown unknown ✓ ✓ ✓ C++ unknown ✓ minimal/decent GNU-GPL ✓ Low
RealFlight unknown unknown ✗ ✓ ✗ -- unknown ✓ minimal/decent non-public ✗ Low
RotorPy ad hoc unknown ✓ ✓ ✓ Python -- ✓ minimal/decent MIT ✓ Developing
jMAVSim unkown Java3D ✓ ✓ ✓ Java, UDP PX4 ✓ minimal/decent BSD-3 ✓ Low

[^1]: ✓: Full support, ✱: Partial support, ✗: No support

[^2]: ✓: Active and maintained, ✱: Inactive but responding to issues/ PR, ✗: Inactive for 2+ years

[^3]: For a referance, a laptop running Intel i5 10th gen (or similar) with 8gb ddr4 ram and NVIDIA T100 4gb (or similar) are considered as minimal requirement.

[^4]: ✓: Yes, ✱: Yes for non commercial use-case , ✗: No

[^5]: Usage in Aerial ROS/Robotics community according to several survey on Discourse and during the meetings.

[^6]: (Software/Hardware) In The Loop

[^8]: It seem under development and there is some docs out there.

Vehicle types

Simulator Multirotor (Basic) Multirotor (Drag) Multirotor (Wind) Fixed-wings Aerial Manipulators Swarms Cars Other vehicles
Gazebo (Classic & New) ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✱ ✱ ✓ ✓
Isaac (Pegasus, Aerial Gym) ✓ ✗(✓,✗) ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓(✗,✗) ✓(✗,✗)
Webots ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✱ ✓ ✓
CoppeliaSim ✓ ✓ ✱ ✗ ✱ ✱ ✓ ✓
AirSim ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✱ ✓ ✗
Flightmare ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
FlightGoggles ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗
gym-pybullet-drones ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✗ ✗
RotorTM ✓ ✗ ✗ ✗ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✗
MATLAB UAV Toolbox ✓ ✓ ✓ ✓ ✗ ✱ ✗ ✗
O3de* ~ ? ? ? ? ? ~ ~
Drake* ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
RotorPy* ~ ~ ~ ✗ ✗ ~ ✗ ✗
  • [ * ] : Unknown data. If you have information on specific topic, please comment bellow with the referance link.
    • [ ~ ] : Yes according to my knowledge but it needs development.
    • [ ? ] : Unknown
    • [ ✗ ] : No according to my research.
  • [ ✓ ] : Yes
  • [ ✱ ] : Yes. But not specifically designed for it
  • [ ✗ ] : No

Simulation tools

Sensor support

TODO

Flight dynamics models

Some simulators mostly focus on creating accurate dynamics for aerial vehicles. Here are some options:

Available UAV Models

Each simulator typically offers a range of ready-to-use aerial vehicle models:

Autopilot Suites

Several autopilot suites provide instructions for using simulators, often with Software-in-the-Loop (SITL) or Hardware-in-the-Loop (HITL) options:

This page was last updated: September 25, 2025