Simulation & Validation

The decision-validation engine of the STC. Simulation precedes deployment and tests system performance under explicit failure conditions.

Simulation Philosophy

  • Simulation Precedes Deployment: No action is taken by the STC without virtual validation.
  • Testable Decisions: All planning outputs must be executable and measurable within the simulated environment.
  • Interoperability over Realism: Early simulations prioritize the visibility of constraints and bottlenecks over photorealistic rendering.
  • Fidelity Scales with Maturity: The complexity of physical models increases only as the STC framework stabilizes.

Hierarchy of Simulation Fidelity

1. Component-Level

Individual subsystems (e.g., motor, sensor). Focus: Unit testing.

2. Module-Level

Full structural unit (e.g., Shelter, Power Unit). Focus: Functional testing.

3. System-Level

Multiple modules interacting (e.g., Habitat + Power). Focus: Integration testing.

4. Colony-Level

Long-term growth, degradation, and scaling. Focus: Longevity analysis.

Detailed Specifications

Core Simulation Architecture

Defines the conceptual engine: State Engine, Time Manager, Physics Abstraction Layer (PAL), and Event System backbone.

Environment Models

Formalizes the world: encoding terrain, climate, hazards, resource distribution, and supporting probabilistic uncertainty by default.

Module Behavior Models

Defines how modules act in simulation: operational states, input/output flows, degradation, and failure conditions.

Resource & Energy Flows

Tracks production, consumption, storage limits, and bottlenecks for all core resources (electrical, thermal, raw materials, etc.).

Planning Feedback Loops

Closes the loop between the Planner and the Simulation for optimization, robustness testing, and failure analysis.

Validation & Metrics

Defines success: explicit metrics (survival time, resource efficiency, redundancy) used to validate plans and module designs.

Simulation is the mechanism that allows for design optimization, failure mode discovery, and the academic validation necessary for real-world transfer.