More than two decades have passed since the first steps of the Gazebo simulator, one of the early attempts to provide a fully-featured 3D environment for robotics simulation. Rewritten into modular libraries, the new Gazebo preserved most of the internals from the previous era even if new features have been added continuously.

Meantime, especially in the last 5 years, the field of robotics simulation has experienced a rapid transformation. A new generation of simulators has emerged (Isaac Sim, O3DE, Carla, etc.) showing powerful rendering capabilities and advanced physics engines, supported by GPU acceleration to enhance realism and performance. These developments have not only changed the landscape of simulation, but have also created new opportunities for integrating AI, machine learning, and robotics in more complex and scalable virtual environments.

Are there any plans to push Gazebo into the modern features? The talk will provide information directly from one of the members of the Gazebo core team about existing roadmaps, funded projects, proof of concepts and any internal discussions on what could come for Gazebo in the future.