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Tutorials

The tutorials are guided paths through the workbench. They use the same production runtime as a normal Twin: a lesson is an ordinary file-backed Rhai scenario with an optional authored USD scene. Nothing in a lesson is a simulation shortcut.

How lessons work

The authored lesson catalog is under Scenarios → Tutorials. Each entry belongs to a track and is one of three lesson types:

Type Behavior
Tour Explains a workflow and advances with Next and Back. A tour does not certify that you performed an action.
Exercise Advances only when the simulation observes the requested result.
Challenge A longer open-ended task with an authored success condition.

Selecting a lesson loads its scene when the lesson needs one, then starts the lesson's Rhai scenario. A lesson that needs a world names its scene explicitly, so selecting it cannot accidentally keep an unrelated scene from the previous lesson.

Lesson cards identify their type. A tour is the right choice when you want to learn where things are; an exercise is the right choice when you want the simulator to confirm completion.

Learning paths

The catalog is organized into tracks. The suggested order is:

  1. Start Here → Lunar Rover Lab — the hands-on workshop: take control, reach a marker, read measured speed, compare two drive runs, move a scene object, and save a personal Twin.
  2. Rover Driving → Moon Driving Basics → Slopes & Tip-Over → Rover Variants — build driving skill, then compare authored tire and motor settings on one shared chassis. The variants lesson is a guided comparison; it does not claim that the rover profiles have different center-of-mass settings.
  3. How It Works → Model Meets Physics, then Sandbox → Lander & Rover Mission — move from the scene and runtime model to a live Modelica/physics connection and then an event-driven mission.
  4. Sandbox → Build a Scene — a guided tour of placement, editing, and saving. The assessed placement exercise is Build a Lunar Base.

The catalog

The shipped catalog contains the following tracks and lessons. Durations are estimates from the catalog, not timers that gate progress.

Track Lesson Type Minutes
Start Here Lunar Rover Lab (featured) Exercise 30
LunCoSim SysML Requirements Tour 3
LunCoSim Read the Sim UI Tour 3
LunCoSim Authority Handoff Exercise 3
How It Works How Simulation Works Tour 5
How It Works Model Meets Physics Tour 3
Navigation Choose a Perspective Tour 3
Sandbox Sandbox Intro Tour 3
Sandbox First Drive Exercise 5
Sandbox Lander & Rover Mission Exercise 10
Sandbox Build a Scene Tour 3
Sandbox Build a Lunar Base Exercise 8
Sandbox Script a Rover Tour 3
Sandbox Rhai Editor & REPL Tour 3
Sandbox Inspect the Simulation Tour 3
Rover Driving Moon Driving Basics Exercise 7
Rover Driving Slopes & Tip-Over Exercise 8
Rover Driving Rover Variants Tour 3
Rover Driving Join a Team Session Tour 3
Modelica Lunica Overview Tour 3
Modelica Your Workspace Tour 3
Modelica Open & View a Model Tour 3
Modelica Compile & Run Tour 3
Modelica Experiments & Sweeps Tour 3
Modelica Plots & Results Tour 3
Modelica Automate with API + MCP Tour 3

A Twin can contribute its own catalog with the same JSON shape. Its menu is nested under the Twin's name and its quick action is visible only while that Twin is active.

The hands-on tutorials in this chapter

The lessons above are shipped with the application. The tutorials in this chapter are longer, authoring-oriented walkthroughs that use the same mechanisms:

Tutorial What it builds
First mission A first drive, and the layer model behind it
Create a Twin A project folder with a manifest and entry scene
Build a scene A composed scene with placed assemblies and saved USD
Add a Modelica model A continuous model attached to a USD program prim
Script a mission A Rhai task tree, objectives, events, and a verdict
Author a shader A WESL material with parameters and texture layers
Compose a HUD A runtime-authored surface with bindings and actions
Validate and share Preflight, lint, scene test, evidence, and handoff

Before you start

You need a working LunCoSim installation and a scene to edit. If the application is not installed, start with Installation. If you have never opened the workbench, read First run first.

The tutorials assume that you can create a folder, edit a text file, and open a terminal. They do not assume prior OpenUSD, Modelica, or Rhai experience. Each step states what the file is for before showing the source.

Conventions used in the tutorials

  • Bold names a UI label or perspective.
  • Monospace names a file, attribute, command, or value.
  • A step that changes a file shows the complete file or the exact fragment to add. Do not paste a fragment into the wrong nesting level.
  • A step that runs a command shows the command from the Twin root unless stated otherwise.
  • A Note explains a constraint. A Warning explains a mistake that is easy to make and hard to diagnose.

What the tutorials do not cover

The tutorials are an authoring path, not a complete reference. They do not cover every command, every schema, or every Modelica library. When a tutorial uses a feature, it links to the chapter that documents the full contract. The Reference chapter is the place to look up an exact field or flag.