System and method to virtually teach a semi-autonomous device

A virtual teaching system, comprising:

• a semi-autonomous device to perform a task, the semi-autonomous device having one or more sensors to detect a plurality of boundaries in a target environment;
• and
• an analysis system, the analysis system having a processor, a memory, and a display, the processor configured to execute a set of instructions stored in the memory associated with constructing a virtual environment and a virtual device, the display configured to show a user interface, the user interface configured to enable a human operator to interact with the virtual environment and the virtual device;
• wherein once the virtual environment has been constructed, the human operator can then interact and guide a virtual representation of the semi-autonomous device in the virtual environment using the user interface;
• wherein the user interface enables the human operator to incorporate heuristic data to augment the process of teaching the virtual device the action sequence by defining safety margins in the virtual environment to ensure the virtual device operates in a safe manner where possible collisions or damage to the semi-autonomous device or the target environment is reduced.