The Khepera IV Mobile Robot: Performance Evaluation, Sensory Data and Software Toolbox

Taking distributed robotic system research from simulation to the real world often requires the use of small robots that can be deployed and managed in large numbers. This has led to the development of a multitude of these devices, deployed in the thousands by researchers worldwide. This paper looks at the Khepera IV mobile robot, the latest iteration of the Khepera series. This full-featured differential wheeled robot provides a broad set of sensors in a small, extensible body, making it easy to test new algorithms in compact indoor arenas. We describe the robot and conduct an independent performance evaluation, providing results for all sensors. We also introduce the Khepera IV Toolbox, an open source framework meant to ease application development. In doing so, we hope to help potential users assess the suitability of the Khepera IV for their envisioned applications and reduce the overhead in getting started using the robot.