We present pyCub, an open-source physics-based simulation of the humanoid robot iCub, along with exercises to teach students the basics of humanoid robotics. Compared to existing iCub simulators (iCub SIM, iCub Gazebo), which require C++ code and YARP as middleware, pyCub works without YARP and with Python code. The complete robot with all articulations has been simulated, with two cameras in the eyes and the unique sensitive skin of the iCub comprising 4000 receptors on its body surface. The exercises range from basic control of the robot in velocity, joint, and Cartesian space to more complex tasks like gazing, grasping, or reactive control. The whole framework is written and controlled with Python, thus allowing to be used even by people with small or almost no programming practice. The exercises can be scaled to different difficulty levels. We tested the framework in two runs of a course on humanoid robotics. The simulation, exercises, documentation, Docker images, and example videos are publicly available at https://rustlluk.github.io/pyCub.

翻译：本文介绍了pyCub——一个基于物理的开源人形机器人iCub仿真器，以及用于教授学生人形机器人基础知识的配套练习。相较于现有需要C++代码和YARP作为中间件的iCub仿真器（iCub SIM、iCub Gazebo），pyCub无需YARP且完全基于Python代码运行。我们完整模拟了具有所有关节的机器人，包括双眼中的两个摄像头，以及iCub独特的敏感皮肤——其体表覆盖着4000个感受器。练习内容涵盖从机器人速度控制、关节空间与笛卡尔空间基础控制，到凝视、抓取或反应控制等更复杂的任务。整个框架完全使用Python编写和控制，因此即使编程经验较少或零基础的用户也能使用。练习难度可进行分级调整。我们在两轮人形机器人课程中对该框架进行了测试。仿真器、练习项目、文档、Docker镜像及示例视频均已公开，访问地址为：https://rustlluk.github.io/pyCub。