Researchers at NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston and Rice University have launched the iMETRO Dynamic Simulation — the world's first open-source dynamic simulation environment to develop robots used in space vehicles and indoor space habitats. The team debuted the platform at the 2026 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA) in Vienna.
The collaborative project bridges deep institutional expertise. The NASA team includes Nathan Dunkelberger, Erik Holum, Emma Zemler and Shaun Azimi, lead for NASA Johnson's Dexterous Robotics team. The Rice cohort includes Nikki Hart, a doctoral student at Rice and NASA Pathways intern, working alongside her mentor, Lydia Kavraki , University Professor, the Kenneth and Audrey Kennedy Professor of Computing and professor of computer science, electrical and computer engineering, mechanical engineering and bioengineering at Rice's George R. Brown School of Engineering and Computing .
"By developing a full-featured, high-fidelity dynamic simulation of a NASA space operations test facility, this new modeling tool makes research in space robotics accessible to the global robotics community," Kavraki said. "The new digital twin simulation environment can serve as a virtual open-source testbed to develop and validate proposed solutions, significantly advancing research and development in intravehicular space robotics."
Freeing up valuable astronaut time
The simulation platform addresses a critical bottleneck for future long-duration spaceflight: maximizing human efficiency during space missions.
Azimi said crew members spend about a third of their time in space doing routine maintenance tasks such as hauling trash bags or cargo from resupply capsules. As NASA prepares for longer space missions, astronaut time will be one of the most valuable resources to manage and maximize. Developing robots to help with some of the routine tasks could allow astronauts to focus on their primary mission of conducting science and exploration.
Building robots capable of reliably executing basic human tasks has proved exceptionally difficult. Historically, the global research community has lacked easily accessible, open-source tools capable of simulating the complex manipulation challenges unique to low- and zero-gravity environments.
To bridge this gap, NASA Johnson recently established the physical iMETRO developmental test bed. The facility features full-scale, high-fidelity interior mockups of future space vehicles and lunar habitats, along with multiple custom-designed robotic platforms.
From code to deployment in a day
In the paper presented at ICRA, the team detailed the development and validation of the iMETRO Dynamic Simulation software, which functions as a high-fidelity digital twin of the new physical iMETRO facility. The team used it to remotely build and deploy a new application that can remotely operate the robots at NASA's iMETRO facility.
"We are excited by the remote capabilities and efficiency of this new platform. Not only were we able to successfully develop and transfer a newly developed application from the iMETRO Dynamic Simulation to the physical iMETRO facility at NASA Johnson, but we had it fully operational in less than a day," said Hart, the study's first author. "For the first time, this simulation will allow researchers around the world to remotely create and test a new robotic software and validate how it integrates with and performs with various hardware configurations and operational paradigms at NASA's physical test bed."
Democratizing the next generation of space robotics research
By making the entire framework open-source, the Rice-NASA collaboration provides researchers with broader access to tools for developing and testing robotic systems for future space missions.
– By Raji Natarajan
