Systems and methods for simulating an operation of one or more automated tools within a nuclear facility

A system for simulating an operation of one or more automated refurbishment or decommissioning tools within a nuclear facility, the system comprising:

• a) a communication component to provide access to one or more computing devices;
• b) one or more local controllers comprising programmable logic controllers for processing command requests from the one or more computing devices for the one or more automated refurbishment or decommissioning tools, the one or more local controllers generating process values for the one or more automated refurbishment or decommissioning tools in response to the command requests, wherein the one or more local controllers are similarly configured to controllers coupled to physical automated refurbishment or decommissioning tools, and wherein the process values generated by the one or more local controllers correspond to process values that would be generated by the controllers coupled to the physical automated refurbishment or decommissioning tools in response to the command requests;
• and
• c) a processor separate from and in communication with the communication component and the one or more local controllers, the processor being configured to receive the process values from the one or more local controllers and being operable to:
• i. use the process values received from the one or more local controllers to animate a three-dimensional model of the one or more automated refurbishment or decommissioning tools operating within the nuclear facility;
• and
• ii. generate one or more views of the animation of the three-dimensional model to be displayed at the one or more computing devices.