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. – Steve Crowe