Matlab is a powerful software development tool and can dramatically reduce the programming workload during the period of algorithm development and theory research. Unfortunately, most of commercial robot simulators do not support Matlab. This paper presents a Matlab-based simulator for algorithm development of 2D indoor robot navigation. It provides a simple user interface for constructing robot models and indoor environment models, including visual observations for the algorithms to be tested. Experimental results are presented to show the feasibility and performance of the proposed simulator. -Matlab is a powerful software development tool and　can dramatically reduce the programming workload during the period of algorithm development and theory research. Unfortunately, most of commercial robot simulators do not support Matlab. This paper presents a Matlab-based simulator for algorithm development of 2D indoor robot navigation. It provides a simple user interface for constructing robot models and indoor environment models, including visual observations for the algorithms to be tested. Experimental results are presented to show the feasibility and performance of the proposed simulator.