1. A system for replicating the behavior of a target robotic manipulator with respect to a payload and worksite, comprising: a real-time simulator capturing the dynamics of the target robot manipulator; a mock-up of said payload and worksite; and an emulating robotic manipulator for interacting with said payload and worksite; said emulating robotic manipulator being controlled by said real-time simulator in a control loop to replicate the dynamical behavior of said target robotic manipulator in its environment by matching the impedance of the emulating robotic manipulator with that of the target robotic manipulator.