The MSF provides a software test bed which includes simulated robotic platforms,
sensors, and environments. This simulation capability is applicable from early
concept studies through to the evaluation of mature technology.
Mission Simulation Facility (MSF)
The MSF is a simulation framework that was developed to support the development
of autonomy technology for planetary exploration vehicles. MSF can also support
human-machine interaction including simulation-based augmented reality during
actual missions. Simulation of mission scenarios is an important aspect of technology
development. The MSF project is relevant to several programs of the proposed
Exploration System, including a multiple robot network, automated assembly on
planetary surfaces and in space, space construction, just-in-time-training,
virtual robots & virtual humans, technology verification/assessment, and simulation-based
Image right: Technology maturation diagram.
NASA Ames’ Mission Simulation Facility (MSF) was designed to meet a development
need that is often encountered by researchers in autonomy: how to carry out
meaningful testing of autonomy software without a real-world robotic platform.
The Mission Simulation Facility offers a simulated testing environment including
robotic vehicles, terrain, sensors, and other features. The initial MSF release
targets have been users researching autonomy for Mars rovers; however, the MSF
technology solution is applicable to any robotic domain.
The MSF has been developed using a multi-platform, distributed architecture
that is a specialization of the Defense Modeling Simulation Office (DMSO) developed
High Level Architecture (HLA), which allows the simulation to be distributed
across multiple machines and laboratories. Multi-platform support allows the
MSF to easily integrate with existing simulation software developed on Unix,
Linux, and Windows platforms. Among other unique qualities, the MSF has been
developed with the goal of distributing the software to outside research groups
and universities so that it can be applied to other research applications.
Image left: Simulation of a rover.
The MSF is a simulation system that represents a diverse collaboration effort.
The core technology of the MSF offers a framework for connectivity among modules
provided by users or collaborators. Major components of the synthetic world
are the terrain surface, environmental conditions, virtual robot, simulated
equipment, and graphical display.
The terrain used in MSF to date comes from collaboration with researchers at
NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). The SimScape project is a server-based
provider of artificial, realistic, or real-world terrain data including both
physical and science characteristics.
Simulated robotic vehicles range from the very simple to the very complex. The
MSF provides simple vehicle models based on either kinematics or dynamics. Other
vehicle simulations, such as the ROAMS project at JPL can be interfaced with
the MSF to provide data related to vehicle subsystems, terrain interactions,
and power usage.
The MSF also provides a general interface to instruments and sensors that interact
with a virtual site model, which has been developed through collaborative work
The exploration of remote environments using robotic systems is a very challenging
task. The physical robot not only has to withstand the hostile elements of the
environment, it also needs to demonstrate high levels of autonomy to accomplish
its tasks without continuous human control or intervention.
To accomplish critical science missions, a robot needs to be able to explore
an unstructured world and make decisions based on information from on-board
sensors. In addition, the robot needs to be capable of adapting its mission
to unanticipated events in order to maximize the science return and ensure rover
Image right: Technology development process.
Research in autonomy for robotic platforms used in remote exploration is therefore
critical for mission success. However, this research area faces several challenges
when it comes to testing new autonomy concepts:
Custom simulators usually provide testbeds for individual algorithms without
the context of an integrated robotic mission.
Access to hardware is either very costly or not available at all. Even when
hardware is available, time and resource constraints often limit test scenarios
to just a few environments. In addition, it can be difficult to control the
parameters of the test, making the experiments hard to repeat.
To address these shortcomings the Mission Simulation Facility (MSF) project
was initiated in early 2001 to support autonomy research for robotic systems.