[DRAFT] Add docs for cloud machine simulation (hold until release)

[Jeremy Rose (jeremyrose-viam)]

HOLD: do not merge until the features ship

These docs describe features that are not released yet: the setup wizard's cloud simulation option, and the simulation tools in the Config AI assistant and the Viam MCP server. Please hold this PR until they are released.

Everything here should be reviewed again, closely, against the released behavior. The drafts were written from pre-release code and PR descriptions, and any of it can change before launch. Draft-only notes are left as TODO(draft) comments in the source.

What this changes

• New page, set-up-a-machine/simulate-a-machine.md: what a cloud simulation is, what to know before starting (billing, idle timeout, stopping and restarting, modules that need hardware), how to start one, how to check on, stop, or restart it, and how to manage simulations from the AI assistant or MCP.
• set-up-a-machine/first-machine.md: a pointer to the simulation option in the setup wizard step, and a short definition of machine and part (wording taken from "What is Viam?") for readers who go straight to the setup page.
• set-up-a-machine/with-cli.md: one sentence in "Get the part ID" saying what a part is.
• MCP server: three rows in the tools table (read_simulation as Read-only, start_simulation as Write, stop_simulation as Write (destructive)) and a short paragraph on the MCP page. The table is hand-maintained.

The machine and part definition edits are in their own commit, so they can ship ahead of the simulation docs if needed.

Open items that need answers from other teams

These probably can't be settled from code:

1. Pricing and billing: the per-minute rate, or whether to link to a pricing page instead of stating it. The docs currently assume simulation is billed to the user who starts or authorizes it, including through the AI assistant or MCP; please confirm.
2. Naming: the user-facing name. The wizard says "simulated environment"; the MCP tool descriptions say Isaac Sim.
3. Launch state: whether the simulation option is behind a feature flag at launch, and where it appears in the wizard relative to the "separate board/computer" question.
4. Idle timeout: what counts as "actuating" for the "at most 60 minutes" timeout, and whether the limit is fixed.
5. Startup: typical time to start, and what the wizard shows if a simulation fails to start.
6. Built-in fake models: whether built-in fake components (for example, the fake arm) work in the simulated environment, so the page can point to them.

Sources consulted

• Pre-release code and pull request descriptions for the setup wizard and for the AI assistant and MCP simulation tools.
• The existing "What is Viam?" page, for the machine and part wording.

I did not run the feature or see the live UI, so the pages describe behavior from code and PR descriptions only.

Checks

Prettier 3.2.5, markdownlint, and vale (3.16.0 locally; CI pins 3.12.0) pass on the changed docs files, and make build-prod completes.

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