  In this work, our aim is to identify whether the choice of virtualization
strategy influences the performance of simulations in robotics. Performance is
quantified in the error between a reference trajectory and the actual
trajectory for the ball moving along the surface of a smooth plate. The
two-sample Kolmogorov-Smirnov test is used to assess significance of variations
in performance under the different experimental settings. Our results show that
the selection of virtualization technology does have a significant effect on
simulation, and moreover this effect can be amplified by the use of some
operating systems. While these results are a strong cause for caution, they
also provide reason for optimism for those considering 'repeatable robotics
research' using virtualization.
