Try Microduck in your browser

Open the official simulator

Pollen Robotics publishes a Microduck simulator as a Hugging Face Space. Open it using the link below; the simulation runs on the external site. This library does not load it until you choose to leave, keeping these guides lightweight.

Launch official simulator ↗

Follow the controls shown by the current simulator. Its interface can evolve independently of this guide. Allow the scene to finish loading before interacting.

Make the first five minutes useful

1. Identify the starting pose and the controls available in the interface.
2. Change one input at a time. Compare moving straight with turning.
3. Observe the transition back to rest, not only the movement itself.
4. Write down what you expected and what you actually saw.

These observations give you concrete questions to take into the training documentation. They also help distinguish a controller’s behavior from your assumptions about how a robot should move.

Simulation is not automatically training

Watching a trained controller act in a simulated scene is different from optimizing a new controller. The training project provides the latter workflow. Its documented local setup uses a CUDA-capable GPU; the browser demo is a separate starting point.

A successful movement in a virtual environment does not by itself establish performance on a physical robot. Simulation is a place to investigate behavior and prepare tests. Hardware introduces differences that need their own evaluation.

If the Space does not load

Open the Space’s own page and check its visible status. Retry after it has started, and check whether your browser or network blocks the page. Avoid concluding that the robot software is broken from a failed web demo.

While waiting, explore the simulation and RL resources or read the training project’s examples.