diff --git a/bin/.helpers b/bin/.helpers
index 4b67066..4c79638 100755
--- a/bin/.helpers
+++ b/bin/.helpers
@@ -161,18 +161,12 @@ function kill_benchbot() {
 
     # Kill specific processes within the container instead if it exists
     if [ -n "$(docker ps -q -f name=$HOSTNAME_ROBOT)" ]; then
-      kill_targets="$(docker exec benchbot_robot /bin/bash -c \
-        'ps aux | grep benchbot_robot_controller' | grep -v 'grep' | \
-        awk '{ for (i=11; i<=NF; i++) { printf $i " " } print "(pid="$2")" }' \
-        || true)"
+      # Use the supervisor to ask the simulator to stop
       printf "\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
-        "Killing following targets in '$HOSTNAME_ROBOT' container:"
-      echo "$kill_targets"
-      if [ -n "$kill_targets" ]; then
-        echo "$kill_targets" | sed 's/.*pid=\(.*\)).*/\1/' | while read pid ; \
-          do docker exec $HOSTNAME_ROBOT /bin/bash -c \
-          'kill -TERM '$pid'; while kill -0 '$pid' 2>/dev/null; do sleep 1; done'; done
-      fi
+        "Sending stop request to running controller:"
+      curl -sS -L "$HOSTNAME_ROBOT:$PORT_ROBOT/stop"
+        
+      # TODO some wait / success checking logic?
     fi
   fi
   if [ -n "$targets" ]; then
diff --git a/bin/benchbot_run b/bin/benchbot_run
index d56a0d6..3ff6fb7 100755
--- a/bin/benchbot_run
+++ b/bin/benchbot_run
@@ -14,13 +14,7 @@ source .helpers
 ########################### Script Specific Settings ###########################
 ################################################################################
 
-SIM_OMNI_PERSISTENT_CHK=$(printf "%s%s" \
-  'docker logs benchbot_robot 2>/dev/null | tail -n 100 | ' \
-  'grep -q "Omniverse System Monitor.*started"')
-
-SIM_OMNI_PERSISTENT_CMD=(
-  '/isaac-sim/start_nucleus.sh && sleep infinity'
-  )
+# None
 
 ################################################################################
 ######################## Helper functions for commands #########################
@@ -71,6 +65,10 @@ OPTION DETAILS:
             novel work will focus on the latest software stack. You should only
             use this flag when it is inconvenient to update immediately.
 
+    -k, --kill-controller
+            Run a kill command that stops everything BenchBot currently
+            running, including the persistent robot controller.
+
     --list-envs, --list-environments
             Search for & list all installed environments. The listed
             environment names are in the format needed for the '--env' option.
@@ -172,40 +170,28 @@ log below for a dump of the crash output:"
 exit_code=
 kill_persist=
 function exit_gracefully() {
-  if [ -z "$simulator_required" ]; then
+  if [ "$simulator_required" -ne 0 ]; then
     printf "\n\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
       "Re-closing network openings used for real robot:"
     close_network $network_forwarding $network_policy
   fi
   kill_benchbot "" $kill_persist
   xhost -local:root > /dev/null
+  trap '' SIGINT SIGQUIT SIGKILL SIGTERM EXIT
   exit ${exit_code:-0}
 }
 
-function persist_chk() {
-  # $1 run type
-  if [ "$type" = "sim_omni" ]; then
-    echo "$SIM_OMNI_PERSISTENT_CHK"
-  fi
-}
-
-function persist_cmd() {
-  # $1 run type
-  if [ "$type" = "sim_omni" ]; then
-    echo "$SIM_OMNI_PERSISTENT_CMD"
-  fi
-}
-
 
 ################################################################################
 #################### Parse & handle command line arguments #####################
 ################################################################################
 
 # Safely parse options input
-_args="help,env:,environment:,force-updateless,list-envs,list-environments,\
-list-formats,list-robots,list-tasks,robot:,show-env:,show-environment:,\
-show-format:,show-robot:,show-task:,task:,updates-check,version"
-parse_out=$(getopt -o he:t:r:fuv --long $_args  -n "$(basename "$abs_path")" \
+_args="help,env:,environment:,force-updateless,kill-controller,list-envs,\
+list-environments,list-formats,list-robots,list-tasks,robot:,show-env:,\
+show-environment:,show-format:,show-robot:,show-task:,task:,updates-check,\
+version"
+parse_out=$(getopt -o he:t:r:fuvk --long $_args  -n "$(basename "$abs_path")" \
   -- "$@")
 if [ $? != 0 ]; then exit 1; fi
 eval set -- "$parse_out"
@@ -222,6 +208,8 @@ while true; do
       environment="$2"; shift 2 ;;
     -f|--force-updateless)
       updates_skip=1 ; shift ;;
+    -k|--kill-controller)
+      kill_persist=0; simulator_required=0; exit_gracefully ;;
     --list-envs|--list-environments)
       list_environments "$_list_environments_pre" "an"; exit $? ;;
     --list-formats)
@@ -263,10 +251,10 @@ if [ -z "$updates_exit" ]; then
   type="$(run_manager_cmd 'exists("robots", [("name", "'$robot'")]) and print(\
     get_value_by_name("robots", "'$robot'", "type"))')"
   simulator_required=1
-  if [[ "$type" != "sim_"* ]]; then simulator_required=0; fi
+  if [[ "$type" == "sim_"* ]]; then simulator_required=0; fi
 
-  # TODO this is logic is flaky as all hell... (see 'TODO DANGER' notice below)
-  [ -z "$(persist_cmd "$type")" ] && kill_persist=0 || kill_persist=1
+  # TODO add an option for managing the persistent container
+  kill_persist=1
 
   # Bail if any of the requested configurations are invalid
   validate_run_args "$robot" "$task" "$type" "$environment" "${environments[@]}"
@@ -314,8 +302,8 @@ for i in "${!environments[@]}"; do
     "'${environments[$i]}'", "map_path"))')"
 done
 printf "    %-22s" "Simulator required:"
-printf "%s (%s)\n"  $([ -z "$simulator_required" ] && echo "No" || echo "Yes") \
-  "$type"
+printf "%s (%s)\n" \
+  $([ "$simulator_required" -ne 0 ] && echo "No" || echo "Yes") "$type"
 echo ""
 
 # Create the network for BenchBot software stack
@@ -323,7 +311,7 @@ echo -e "${colour_blue}Creating shared network '$DOCKER_NETWORK':${colour_nc}"
 docker network inspect "$DOCKER_NETWORK" >/dev/null 2>&1 || \
   docker network create "$DOCKER_NETWORK" --subnet="$URL_DOCKER_SUBNET" \
   --ip-range="$URL_DOCKER_SUBNET" --gateway="$URL_DOCKER_GATEWAY"
-if [ -z "$simulator_required" ]; then
+if [ "$simulator_required" -ne 0 ]; then
   printf "\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
     "Opening network to facilitate communications with real robot:"
   network_forwarding=$(cat /proc/sys/net/ipv4/conf/all/forwarding)
@@ -352,7 +340,7 @@ cmd="${docker_run//'$name'/$ros_master_host}"
 ${cmd// /$'\t'} --ip "$URL_ROS" -d $DOCKER_TAG_BACKEND /bin/bash -c \
   "$cmd_prefix"'roscore'
 
-if [ -n "$simulator_required" ]; then
+if [ "$simulator_required" -eq 0 ]; then
   # TODO would be nice to have a less stupid way to do this, but bash's lack of
   # nested arrays (and difficulties passing arrays in general from functions)
   # makes it hard...
@@ -360,53 +348,20 @@ if [ -n "$simulator_required" ]; then
   if [ "$type" = "sim_omni" ]; then
       args=("${SIM_OMNI_ARGS[@]}")
   fi
-  persist_cmd="$(persist_cmd "$type")"
-  persist_chk="$(persist_chk "$type")"
-
-  if [ -n "$persist_cmd" ]; then 
-    # TODO DANGER: there are LOTS of ways this can go wrong. Need to do this
-    # more robustly if we ever expand outside Omniverse-only focus. Examples:
-    # - if next run uses a different simulator type, what do we do?
-    # - the persist variables are vary ad-hoc / hacky
-    # - it's really unclear to the user what is still running in background
-    # - our checks for the status of things are weak (how do we know if an exec
-    #   has failed now???)
-
-    # Run a persistent container and execute within it if our simulator has
-    # caching utilities (e.g. Cache in Omniverse)
-    printf "\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
-      "Starting persistent container for BenchBot Robot Controller ($type):"
-    eval $persist_chk && loaded=0 || loaded=1
-    if [ $loaded -eq 0 ]; then
-      printf "Skipping (already running)\n"
-    else
-      cmd="${docker_run//'$name'/benchbot_robot}"
-      ${cmd// /$'\t'} --ip "$URL_ROBOT" -d "${args[@]}" \
-        -t $DOCKER_TAG_SIM_PREFIX$type /bin/bash -c $persist_cmd
-    fi
-
-    printf "\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
-      "Executing BenchBot Robot Controller in persistent container:"
-    while [ $loaded -eq 1 ]; do 
-      eval $persist_chk && loaded=0 || loaded=1 
-      sleep 1
-    done
-
-    docker exec -d benchbot_robot /bin/bash -c \
-      "$cmd_prefix"'rosrun benchbot_robot_controller benchbot_robot_controller'
 
-    controller_pid=
-    while [ -z "$controller_pid" ]; do
-      controller_pid="$(docker container top benchbot_robot | \
-        grep 'benchbot_robot_controller' | grep -v 'grep' | awk '{print $2}' | \
-        tr '\n' ',' | sed 's/,$//')"
-      sleep 1
-    done
-    printf "Started in persistent container (pids = $controller_pid)\n"
+  # TODO DANGER: there are LOTS of ways this can go wrong. Need to do this
+  # more robustly if we ever expand outside Omniverse-only focus. Examples:
+  # - if next run uses a different simulator type, what do we do?
+  # - it's really unclear to the user what is still running in background
+
+  # Run a persistent container and execute within it if our simulator has
+  # caching utilities (e.g. Cache in Omniverse)
+  printf "\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
+    "Starting persistent container for BenchBot Robot Controller ($type):"
+  if [ "$(docker container inspect -f '{{.State.Running}}' \
+        benchbot_robot 2> /dev/null)" == "true" ]; then
+    printf "Skipping (already running)\n"
   else
-    # Run a new container each time when there's no persistence requirement
-    printf "\n${colour_blue}%s${colour_nc}\n" \
-      "Starting container for BenchBot Robot Controller ($type):"
     cmd="${docker_run//'$name'/benchbot_robot}"
     ${cmd// /$'\t'} --ip "$URL_ROBOT" -d "${args[@]}" \
       -t $DOCKER_TAG_SIM_PREFIX$type /bin/bash -c \
@@ -431,13 +386,13 @@ header_block "BENCHBOT IS RUNNING (Ctrl^C to exit) ..." ${colour_green}
 docker logs --follow benchbot_supervisor &
 
 while [ -n "$(docker ps -q -f 'name=benchbot_supervisor')" ] && \
-  ([ -z "$simulator_required" ] || \
+  ([ "$simulator_required" -ne 0 ] || \
   [ -n "$(docker ps -q -f 'name=benchbot_robot')" ]); do
   sleep 1
 done
 # sleep infinity
 
-if [ -n "$simulator_required" ] && \
+if [ "$simulator_required" -eq 0 ] && \
     [ -z "$(docker ps -q -f 'name=benchbot_robot')" ]; then
   header_block "BENCHBOT ROBOT CONTROLLER ERROR" ${colour_red}
   echo -e "\n${colour_red}$_robot_err${colour_nc}\n"