The use of robotics in disaster scenarios has become a reality. However, an Unmanned Surface Vehicle (USV) needs a robust navigation strategy to face unpredictable environmental forces such as waves, wind, and water current. A starting step toward this goal is to have a programming environment with realistic USV models where designers can assess their control strategies under different degrees of environmental disturbances. This paper presents a simulation environment integrated with robotic middleware which models the forces that act on a USV in a disaster scenario. Results show that these environmental forces affect the USV's trajectories negatively, indicating the need for more research on USV control strategies considering harsh environmental conditions. Evaluation scenarios were presented to highlight specific features of the simulator, including a bridge inspection scenario with fast water current and winds.
Keywords: bridge inspection; computational fluid dynamics; hydrological modelling; robotics simulation; unmanned surface vehicles.