PythonRobotics — overview
PythonRobotics is an open-source GitHub project that provides readable Python implementations of a wide range of robotics algorithms together with a web-hosted textbook/documentation. It was created to help students, researchers and engineers understand and prototype algorithms used in mobile robotics, autonomous vehicles, and related fields.
Key features
- Readable, educational implementations: each algorithm is presented with minimal dependencies and clear code to ease learning.
- Wide algorithm coverage: localization (EKF, particle filter, histogram filter), mapping (grid maps, ray-casting, lidar-to-grid), SLAM (ICP, FastSLAM), path planning (A*, Dijkstra, RRT*, PRM, state lattice, potential field, etc.), path tracking (Stanley, LQR, MPC), arm navigation, aerial navigation, bipedal planners, and more.
- Visual demonstrations: many examples include animated GIFs or plots to illustrate behavior and results.
- Lightweight requirements: relies on standard scientific Python packages (NumPy, SciPy, Matplotlib) and optional tooling (cvxpy, pytest, mypy) for development and experiments.
- Documentation/textbook: a hosted documentation site with background, equations and step-by-step explanations complements the code examples.
Who it's for
- Students learning robotics algorithms who want working code examples.
- Researchers prototyping ideas or verifying algorithmic behaviors quickly in Python.
- Engineers seeking reference implementations of common robotics building blocks to adapt into larger systems.
Usage
- Clone the repository.
- Install required packages (supports pip or conda-based setups).
- Run example scripts in the per-module directories to see simulations and visualizations.
The project includes guidance for contributing, unit tests, CI badges, and a recommendation to cite the project's arXiv paper when used in academic work.
Project metadata (from repository)
- First published (repository created): 2016-03-21.
- Homepage / documentation: a dedicated GitHub Pages textbook site.
- License: MIT.
- Popularity: widely starred and used as an educational reference (high star count on GitHub).
Why it matters
PythonRobotics fills an important niche between theoretical textbooks and production frameworks by providing concise, runnable, and well-documented code for many foundational robotics algorithms. This makes it a practical learning tool and a convenient prototyping resource for projects that require classical robotics techniques.
