HVACSim - MITRE Caldera for OT Capstone
Capstone with MITRE
From September to December 2025, I collaborated directly with MITRE’s OT Cybersecurity Engineering team to build HVACSim, a software-only server-room HVAC simulator. The project provides a BACnet/IP environment for red/blue-team exercises and cyber-physical testing with MITRE Caldera for OT, without requiring physical industrial hardware.
Simulating the control system
I implemented writable BACnet control points for the temperature setpoint, intake and exhaust fans, and emergency stop using Python and BACpypes. The simulation models room temperature and chiller dynamics with a proportional-integral (PI) control loop, sensor noise, and actuator lag. Emergency-stop behavior brings the simulated fans and chiller to a stop.
Observing and validating changes
I built a real-time human-machine interface (HMI) with Matplotlib, including temperature and equipment trend charts, sliders, and an emergency-stop control. This makes it possible to observe how local controls and BACnet overrides affect the simulated system. I developed and validated the integration in Linux virtual machines.