mujoco_ros2_control

This is a ROS 2 package for integrating the ros2_control controller architecture with the MuJoCo physics simulator.

This package provides a ros2_control system interface plugin that wraps MuJoCo’s Simulate App to expose hardware interfaces, allowing robots described in MJCF or converted from URDF to be controlled via the standard ROS 2 control stack.

Key features:

Full ros2_control SystemInterface plugin for MuJoCo
MJCF/URDF conversion utilities to auto-generate MuJoCo models
Optional plugin system for extending simulation with custom publishers and services
Force-torque sensor, IMU, camera, and lidar support
Step-by-step simulation control via ROS 2 services
Example demos showing basic control, PID and transmission setups

Installation

Binary packages

mujoco_ros2_control is released for ROS 2 kilted on Ubuntu. To use it, install the ros-kilted-mujoco-ros2-control package:

sudo apt install ros-kilted-mujoco-ros2-control ros-kilted-mujoco-ros2-control-demos

Building from source

To use the latest features or build against a custom MuJoCo version, build from source. The package requires the mujoco_vendor package which provides the base MuJoCo install.

mkdir -p ~/mujoco_ros2_control_ws/src
cd ~/mujoco_ros2_control_ws/src
git clone https://github.com/ros-controls/mujoco_ros2_control -b main
git clone https://github.com/pal-robotics/mujoco_vendor -b master
rosdep install -r --from-paths . --ignore-src --rosdistro $ROS_DISTRO -y
cd ~/mujoco_ros2_control_ws
colcon build

Quick Start

After installation, source the workspace and run a demo:

source install/setup.bash
ros2 launch mujoco_ros2_control_demos demo.launch.py

The demo launches the MuJoCo Simulate window with a test robot and the ros2_control stack connected.

Add ros2_control tag to a URDF

To use ros2_control with your robot in MuJoCo, add a <ros2_control> tag to your URDF pointing to the MujocoSystemInterface plugin and your MJCF scene file:

<ros2_control name="MujocoSystem" type="system">
  <hardware>
    <plugin>mujoco_ros2_control/MujocoSystemInterface</plugin>
    <param name="mujoco_model">$(find my_description)/description/scene.xml</param>
  </hardware>
  <joint name="joint1">
    <command_interface name="position"/>
    <state_interface name="position">
      <param name="initial_value">0.0</param>
    </state_interface>
    <state_interface name="velocity"/>
    <state_interface name="effort"/>
  </joint>
</ros2_control>

Due to compatibility requirements, a slightly modified ros2_control node from this package must be used:

control_node = Node(
    package="mujoco_ros2_control",
    executable="ros2_control_node",
    output="both",
    parameters=[
        {"use_sim_time": True},
        controller_parameters,
    ],
)

For the full plugin parameter reference, joint control modes, gripper/mimic joint setup, sensors, cameras, and lidar configuration, see the Hardware Interface documentation linked below.

URDF to MJCF Conversion

MuJoCo does not support the full feature set of xacro/URDFs. A highly experimental conversion tool is provided to assist with converting robot description files to MJCF format.

See the URDF to MJCF Conversion documentation linked below for usage details, parameter reference, and examples.