A brain-based device (BBD) having a physical mobile device NOMAD controlling and under control by a simulated nervous system. The simulated nervous system is based on an intricate anatomy and physiology of the hippocampus and its surrounding neuronal regions including the cortex. The BBD integrates spatial signals from numerous objects in time and provides flexible navigation solutions to aid in the exploration of unknown environments. As NOMAD navigates in its real world environment, the hippocampus of the simulated nervous system organizes multi-modal input information received from sensors on NOMAD over timescales and uses this organization for the development of spatial and episodic memories necessary for navigation.