The Best Free Tools & Platforms to Practise Robotics Skills in 2025/26
Robotics is one of the fastest-growing industries in the UK and worldwide. From autonomous vehicles and warehouse automation to humanoid robots and robotic surgery, this field blends mechanical engineering, software development, and artificial intelligence.
For anyone hoping to enter the sector — whether as a robotics engineer, control systems developer, computer vision specialist, or roboticist in research — practical skills matter far more than theory alone. Employers want proof you can design, simulate, and test robotic systems.
The challenge is that real robots are expensive. Buying robotic arms, drones, or mobile platforms isn’t realistic for most learners. Fortunately, a wide range of free tools and platforms exist to let you practise robotics without costly hardware. These include open-source simulators, frameworks, middleware, and reinforcement learning environments.
This article explores the best free tools and platforms available in 2025 to help you practise robotics skills, build portfolio projects, and prepare for careers in this exciting field.
Why Practising Robotics Skills Matters
Robotics is a practical discipline. Textbooks can teach you kinematics, dynamics, and control theory, but until you’ve tested algorithms on robots — even virtual ones — you won’t grasp the challenges involved.
By practising with free robotics tools, you can:
Understand hardware–software integration: How sensors, actuators, and control algorithms interact in real systems.
Experiment safely: Test algorithms in simulators before risking hardware damage.
Work with real-world constraints: Noise, calibration, limited power, and unpredictable environments.
Build demonstrable projects: Portfolios showing your ability to solve robotic tasks stand out to employers.
Learn industry-standard frameworks: Skills in ROS, Gazebo, or MoveIt are directly transferable to professional robotics roles.
1. Webots
Webots is one of the most widely used free robotics simulators. It is fully open-source and cross-platform.
Key Features
Models mobile robots, manipulators, drones, and humanoids.
Includes a library of sensors and actuators.
Supports physics-based simulation for realistic testing.
Can import CAD and URDF models.
Why It’s Useful
Webots is beginner-friendly but powerful enough for advanced projects. You can practise everything from line-following robots to quadrotor flight and robotic arm manipulation.
2. ROS (Robot Operating System)
ROS is the most important free framework in robotics. It isn’t an operating system but rather a collection of tools, libraries, and middleware.
Key Features
Communication framework for sensors, actuators, and controllers.
Rich ecosystem of packages for SLAM, navigation, manipulation, and perception.
ROS 2 adds real-time and multi-robot support.
Why It’s Useful
ROS is the industry standard. If you want a robotics job in the UK, ROS experience will often be listed in job descriptions.
3. Gazebo
Often paired with ROS, Gazebo is a free physics-based simulator.
Key Features
Realistic simulation of robots in 3D environments.
Supports sensors such as LIDAR, cameras, and GPS.
Works seamlessly with ROS.
Why It’s Useful
Gazebo lets you test ROS packages without real hardware. You can practise mapping, navigation, or manipulation tasks entirely in simulation.
4. Open-RMF (Open Robotics Middleware Framework)
Open-RMF extends ROS to multi-robot coordination.
Key Features
Simulates and manages fleets of robots.
Useful in warehouses, hospitals, and logistics environments.
Open-source and free to use.
Why It’s Useful
Fleet management is a growing area in robotics, and practising with Open-RMF shows employers you understand large-scale systems.
5. NVIDIA Isaac Sim
Isaac Sim is a robotics simulator from NVIDIA, built on the Omniverse platform.
Key Features
High-fidelity physics simulation.
Synthetic data generation for computer vision.
Supports reinforcement learning pipelines.
Why It’s Useful
The free tier lets you experiment with advanced simulation and perception, preparing you for industry projects.
6. MoveIt
MoveIt is an open-source motion planning framework.
Key Features
Tools for manipulation, motion planning, and collision avoidance.
Integrates with ROS and Gazebo.
Supports robotic arms and complex multi-joint systems.
Why It’s Useful
If you want to specialise in robotic manipulation, MoveIt is the go-to free tool for practising trajectory planning and control.
7. MRPT (Mobile Robot Programming Toolkit)
MRPT provides algorithms and tools for mobile robotics.
Key Features
SLAM (simultaneous localisation and mapping).
Path planning and navigation.
Vision and sensor integration.
Why It’s Useful
MRPT allows you to practise core mobile robotics skills like mapping and localisation.
8. AMBF (Asynchronous Multi-Body Framework)
AMBF is a real-time simulation framework.
Key Features
Models rigid, soft, and multi-body systems.
Supports haptics and advanced dynamics.
Used in research environments.
Why It’s Useful
Great for those interested in medical robotics, haptics, or advanced simulations.
9. RoboGym
RoboGym combines reinforcement learning with robotics simulation.
Key Features
Distributed reinforcement learning environments.
Focuses on sim-to-real transfer.
Open-source and free to use.
Why It’s Useful
It’s an excellent way to practise reinforcement learning in robotics, an area of rapid growth.
10. PyCub
PyCub is a Python framework for humanoid robotics simulation.
Key Features
Humanoid modelling and control.
Exercises in perception, control, and locomotion.
Beginner-friendly.
Why It’s Useful
It’s a practical tool for experimenting with humanoid robotics without expensive hardware.
Vision & Perception Tools
Robotics relies heavily on perception. Free tools for practising include:
OpenCV: Computer vision library for image processing.
Point Cloud Library (PCL): For 3D data and object recognition.
AprilTags / ArUco: Marker-based localisation.
Practising vision algorithms prepares you for autonomous robotics and industrial applications.
Beginner Hardware + Free Software
While this article focuses on free software, combining it with inexpensive hardware can deepen your skills.
Raspberry Pi for basic robotics projects.
Arduino for controlling motors and sensors.
Low-cost robotic kits that integrate with ROS or Python.
Using simulators first, then testing on affordable hardware, builds strong transferable skills.
Project Ideas to Build Your Portfolio
Here are practical project ideas using the free tools above:
Autonomous Navigation: Use ROS and Gazebo to create a robot that maps and navigates a maze.
Pick-and-Place Robot Arm: Use MoveIt with a simulated robotic arm to perform grasping tasks.
Reinforcement Learning in Robotics: Train a simulated robot in RoboGym to perform locomotion.
Humanoid Control: Use PyCub to simulate walking or object interaction.
SLAM Project: Use MRPT to implement a SLAM algorithm in simulation.
Document these projects with code, visuals, and explanations. Hosting them on GitHub will strengthen your CV.
Communities & Free Learning Resources
Robotics communities can accelerate your learning:
ROS Discourse and Answers: Forums for troubleshooting and knowledge sharing.
Webots and Gazebo communities: Active open-source contributors.
GitHub projects: Explore repositories to learn from others’ code.
UK robotics societies and meetups: Great for networking and collaboration.
Free learning resources include MOOCs, YouTube tutorials, and university lecture notes. Many universities offer robotics courses in audit mode at no cost.
Roadmap: How to Learn Robotics with Free Tools
Beginner Stage
Start with Webots to simulate simple mobile robots.
Use OpenCV to experiment with computer vision basics.
Intermediate Stage
Move into ROS and Gazebo for integrated robotics projects.
Experiment with SLAM and navigation using MRPT.
Advanced Stage
Add MoveIt for manipulation tasks.
Explore reinforcement learning with RoboGym.
Experiment with Isaac Sim for high-fidelity simulation.
By following this roadmap, you can steadily progress from simple projects to advanced research-level simulations.
Final Thoughts
Robotics is a field where practice matters. Employers in the UK want to see evidence that you can design, simulate, and deploy robotic systems. Thankfully, with free tools like Webots, ROS, Gazebo, MoveIt, MRPT, AMBF, RoboGym, and PyCub, you can practise almost every aspect of robotics without needing expensive hardware.
By experimenting with simulators, learning middleware like ROS, and building portfolio projects, you’ll stand out in the job market. Combine this with community engagement and consistent practice, and you’ll be well-prepared for a career in robotics.
So download one of these tools, start a project, and begin your journey into robotics today.
