Open source robotics toolkits

http://www-128.ibm.com/developerworks/linux/library/l-robotools/?ca=dgr-lnxw09OSRoboticToolkits

Other sensors available in Simbad follow a similar pattern, creating an intuitive set of APIs.
What really makes Simbad so useful is its console for robot simulation and visualization. As Figure 4 shows, the Simbad console gives you a real-time view of the world, an inspector panel that provides robot details (including the camera), and a control panel for managing the simulation.Figure 4. The Simbad robot simulator and visualizer console
Simbad also provides good documentation and tutorials to get you up and running quickly in both the Java and Python languages. And along with single-robot simulation, you can simulate multiple robots simultaneously. Overall, the Simbad simulator is a great environment for testing ideas in intelligent robotics algorithms. Simbad is available under the GPL open source license.