Simulate the robot as part of the mission.
A space robot is not only a body moving over terrain. Its mobility, sensors, power, thermal state, autonomy, communications, and operator procedures shape what the mission can actually accomplish.
Why robot-only simulation misses the mission question.
A robot can drive correctly in a dynamics test and still fail the mission because the battery, thermal margin, communication window, sensor assumptions, or operating procedure changes the outcome.
Represent contact with the environment.
Vehicle mechanics, joints, wheels, sensors, and terrain belong in the same scene so a route is evaluated against the robot that will actually attempt it.
Make energy a mission constraint.
Motor demand, payload activity, solar input, and storage state can be part of the question instead of a separate spreadsheet that the route planner never sees.
Test autonomy and human authority together.
Mission policy, event handling, commands, and observations use the same runtime boundary for scripts, agents, and human operators.
Inspect the interaction that changed the result.
Named ports, generated physical models, telemetry, and diagnostics make it possible to trace a mission result back to the system definition.
One approach for many space robots.
Rovers are the clearest proof case, but the same system-level approach applies wherever a robot’s success depends on connected physical and operational constraints.
Rovers and terrain vehicles
Study traverse completion, wheel-terrain interaction, power demand, sensing, and autonomous or supervised driving.
Rover simulation → Landing systemsLanders and deployed robots
Connect descent, touchdown, vehicle state, landing events, and the first surface operation in one mission sequence.
Lander simulation → Mission operationsAutonomous and supervised operations
Turn tasks, events, handoffs, and recovery behaviour into scenarios that can run against the system model.
Mission operations →Choose the model detail that serves the decision.
LunCoSim brings the models relevant to a mission question into one system study. Specialist qualification, CFD, FEA, and hardware testing remain part of the workflow when their fidelity is the decision.
Start with the robot decision that matters.
Read the engineering rationale in Why space robotics needs system-level simulation, then choose a rover, lander, or mission-operations study.