DeepMind open-sources MuJoCo physics engine

Organization Name: DeepMind

Country: United Kingdom

Website: deepmind.com

Year Founded: 2010

Number of Employees: 500+

Innovation Class: Business and Management

Innovation Subclass: Business Models

Description:

MuJoCo, which stands for Multi-Joint Dynamics with Contact, is a physics engine and simulator that aims to facilitate R&D in robotics, biomechanics, graphics and animation, and other areas where fast and accurate simulation is needed. MuJoCo can be used to implement model-based computations such as control synthesis, state estimation, system identification, mechanism design, data analysis through inverse dynamics, and parallel sampling for machine learning applications.

Analysis:

DeepMind, an AI research lab and a subsidiary of Alphabet, in October 2021 acquired the MuJoCo physics engine for robotics research and development. It released the open-source version of MuJoCo on GitHub in May 2022.

Before the acquisition, MuJoCo had been the physics simulator of choice for DeepMind’s robotics team. Many simulators used by robotics engineers were initially designed for gaming and cinema and take shortcuts that prioritize stability over accuracy.

MuJoCo’s rich-yet-efficient contact model has made it a leading choice by robotics researchers. DeepMind’s decision to acquire and open-source the technology now makes it freely available to everyone. This will enable more robotics engineers to use an accurate, realistic physics engine and ease some of the challenges of developing complex robotics systems.

RR – Steve Crowe