A medical simulation system, comprising: a human manikin; at least one hardware module in the human manikin, the at least one hardware module including identification information and providing incremental functionality to the human manikin; a power source coupled to the human manikin configured to power the at least one hardware module if power is required from the power source by the at least one hardware module, and the power required by the at least one hardware module is compatible with the power source; an interface processor configured to receive the identification information from the at least one hardware module; a computational device that is at least one of in communication with and included in the interface processor to receive the identification information, wherein the identification information is provided by a wired or wireless communication bus, and directly or indirectly provides information on the capability of the hardware module or the resources needed from the system for operation of the hardware module, the computational device configured to access a memory having stored thereon an arbitrator function; wherein when the arbitrator function is executed by the computational device and is configured to identify a compatibility status of the at least one hardware module with at least one of the human manikin, identify the incremental functionality available to the medical simulation system based on the compatibility status as determined using the identification information provided by a software and/or firmware inserted in said hardware module, and generate an alert when the at least one hardware module is not compatible with at least one of the human manikin and, if present, another of the at least one hardware module or at least one of execute a configuration function and start operation of the system when the at least one hardware module is compatible with at least one of the human manikin and another of the at least one hardware module; and wherein the identification information directly or indirectly provides information on the capability of the hardware module or the resources needed from the system for operation of the hardware module. a human manikin; at least one hardware module in the human manikin, the at least one hardware module including identification information and providing incremental functionality to the human manikin; a power source coupled to the human manikin configured to power the at least one hardware module if power is required from the power source by the at least one hardware module, and the power required by the at least one hardware module is compatible with the power source; an interface processor configured to receive the identification information from the at least one hardware module; a computational device that is at least one of in communication with and included in the interface processor to receive the identification information, wherein the identification information is provided by a wired or wireless communication bus, and directly or indirectly provides information on the capability of the hardware module or the resources needed from the system for operation of the hardware module, the computational device configured to access a memory having stored thereon an arbitrator function; wherein when the arbitrator function is executed by the computational device and is configured to identify a compatibility status of the at least one hardware module with at least one of the human manikin, identify the incremental functionality available to the medical simulation system based on the compatibility status as determined using the identification information provided by a software and/or firmware inserted in said hardware module, and generate an alert when the at least one hardware module is not compatible with at least one of the human manikin and, if present, another of the at least one hardware module or at least one of execute a configuration function and start operation of the system when the at least one hardware module is compatible with at least one of the human manikin and another of the at least one hardware module; and wherein the identification information directly or indirectly provides information on the capability of the hardware module or the resources needed from the system for operation of the hardware module.