https://youtu.be/17XpwnqyCXs
New transmission type mjTRN_SO3: a relative orientation, targeting a ball
joint or a site+refsite pair. It is the first transmission with more than
one force output: its length is the norm of the expmap vector of the
relative rotation and its moment axes are the 3 rows of the
relative rotational Jacobian, without projecting onto per-actuator gears.
New force law mjGAIN_SO3/mjBIAS_SO3: a geodesic PD servo, force =
kp * log(q_current^-1 * q_target) - kv * velocity, exact for arbitrary axis
combinations with a unique equilibrium at every commanded orientation.
Error, moment rows and velocity all live in the child frame (joint or
site): the right-difference error is the gradient of the geodesic
potential in that frame. The parent-frame (left) error is not: driving
child-frame torques with it pumps energy at large angles, settling into
steady-spinning limit cycles (the SO3LargeAngleConvergence test). The
integrator variant stores the 3D orientation setpoint in act (actnum = 3,
re-anchored to a bounded representative at integration time). Exposed in
MJCF as <orientation joint=|site=+refsite= kp kv|dampratio>, or via
<general gaintype="so3" biastype="so3">.
The setpoint input has two charts: an expmap target (3 controls, default)
or a quaternion target (4 controls) -- <orientation input="quat">, the
first actuator with different input and output widths. The signature is
recorded in a new per-actuator field actuator_ctrlspec (mjtCtrlChart),
whose meaning is scoped by the gain type the way gain/bias parameters are;
ctrlnum is derived from it at compile time and remains the layout
authority. An explicit field rather than width inference or a prm slot:
width-as-chart cannot express same-width signatures (upcoming servo input
subsets), and prm slots are the input_mode pattern this stack retires.
The force law normalizes the commanded quaternion, making it scale- and
antipodally-invariant. The all-zero ctrl still maps to the identity via
mju_normalize4, but it is a degenerate point (a nudge of any component
commands a half-turn), so quat inputs reset to the identity quaternion:
new mj_resetCtrl sets neutral ctrl values (zero, except qw = 1), called
by mj_resetData and the viewers' Clear All. The quat chart is
restricted to dyntype 'none': integrating a quaternion setpoint linearly
is not meaningful on the manifold. New mjsActuator.ctrlspec field carries
the signature through the spec and XML round-trip.
Actuator sensors (actuatorpos/vel/frc) now report one value per force
output; dim = 3 on an SO3 actuator.
As the first actuator with nu != nactuator, this commit also makes the
viewers multi-input aware: the control sliders in simulate and studio,
which indexed per-actuator arrays by control index (out of bounds on
this model class), are generated per control and labeled with the
actuator name plus an input suffix ("orient/qw"), via the new
introspection helper mj_actuatorInputName -- the single source of truth
for input names, extended by each new multi-input type (quaternion
components are w-first: qw, qx, qy, qz). Slider ranges now honor a
defined ctrlrange even when ctrllimited is false: range is the UI hint,
limited is the clamp -- wrapped and expmap setpoints are unbounded but
still want finite sliders, while quat components are truly bounded.
The rotational demo model is orientation.xml under
test/engine/testdata/actuation/, upgraded to a three-way contrast:
per-axis wrapped servos vs an expmap-commanded vs a quat-commanded
orientation actuator, on identical checker-textured boxes. It is loaded
by the mixed-axis contrast and input-name tests, and doubles as the
viewer test model (slider groups of 3 independent, 3 grouped, 4 grouped).
PiperOrigin-RevId: 951607063
Change-Id: If235dba8e2f2ca72672e7c62531a27e967c6a373
These fields (`flg_gravcomp` and `flg_surfacevel`) replace the fast-path checks originally guarded by `ngravcomp` and (recently) `nsurfacevel`. Since the engine uses these integers only as flags (zero vs non-zero), migrating them to actual booleans makes them writeable from the Python bindings at runtime without violating size/dimension constraints.
The legacy integer field `ngravcomp` is marked as deprecated and will be removed in a future release.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 949779204
Change-Id: Ifab1f026063a4239302e6ad689663b611b59dda8
- Wrapping in force path is local; act is re-anchored at integration time.
- Remove hardcoded `actrange` for intvelocity actuators.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 949566477
Change-Id: I349fdf17eedfbb2174d698cc1a6a91d52810b4a3
This CL replaces the post-hoc implicit flex correction (`flexInterp_cgsolve`) with a **linearly-implicit effective metric** `M̃ = M + (h² + h·damping)·K` carried by the CG constraint solver itself. Contact/friction forces and implicit flex elasticity are now computed against one consistent metric, instead of the solver seeing `M` and a post-solve correction changing `qacc` behind its back.
Gate (unchanged semantics): `solver="CG"` + implicit/implicitfast integrator + pyramidal cones + flex stiffness present. Newton and PGS are untouched. `solver="CG"` remains the user-facing contract — the factorization is an implementation detail of the preconditioner.
### What's in the metric
- **mjData `efm_*`** (arena, efc-like lifetime/skip semantics; built in `mj_fwdPosition`, value-refreshed in `mj_fwdVelocity`): the per-step stiffness CSR `efm_B_*`, its reverse-Cholesky factor `efm_dofid` + `efm_L_*` (nested-dissection ordered, separators-first for the reverse factorization), and the smooth-force shift `efm_c = h·K·qvel`.
- **`mjd_flexStiff_assemble`** now assembles stretch (Gauss–Newton), standard dim-2 bending, and — via the cached corotated stiffness `d->flexelem_krot` — interp stiffness (all node bodies on simple sliders: point Jacobian is I₃, `flex_centered` not required; fixed nodes drop like pins) into one dof-level CSR. `mjd_effMulAdd`/`mjd_effSolve` apply the metric, with matrix-free operator fallbacks where assembly does not apply.
- **mjModel `efm0_*`** (`nefm0dof`/`nefm0L`): the constant part of the metric factor — currently the dim-2 bending factor, computed once in `mj_setConst` — so bending-only models pay zero per-step factorization cost. Naming mirrors mjData's `efm_*` with the standard `0`-suffix (reference/constant) idiom, and is deliberately not bending-specific: future constant contributors extend it without renames.
- The solver consumes the metric through pre-shifted `qfrc_smooth` and the metric products `Ma`/`Mv`/`Mgrad`; `qacc_smooth` becomes the unconstrained minimizer of the implicit dynamics, which makes the no-constraint shortcut and the warmstart choice consistent by construction.
- **`mj_inverse` adds `B·qacc − c`**, making inverse dynamics discrete-consistent with the gated forward dynamics — exact, since the gated path has no qDeriv term (new test `ForwardTest.GatedFlexInverseConsistency`).
### Performance
All numbers: ms/step over the same 2000-step window, models as shipped on each side (old code with the old model settings vs this CL with the new ones).
The new solver path activates on exactly two shipped models — the ponchos, the only flex models that need an implicit integrator (poncho on Euler degenerates to >200 ms/step). For them, this CL trades speed for consistency: the implicit bending solve now runs inside every solver iteration, where the contact solve can see the stiffness, instead of once after the solve. Solver iterations drop because the curvature is visible, but each iteration pays for the implicit solve:
| model | before | after | solver iters/step |
|---|---|---|---|
| poncho | 2.47 | 3.30 (1.33×) | 16.8 → 11.8 |
| poncho_edgeequality | 1.96 | 2.72 (1.39×) | 13.2 → 10.0 |
What that price buys: contact forces consistent with the implicit elasticity (previously the post-hoc correction changed `qacc` after the constraint solve), discrete-consistent inverse dynamics, and the removal of the post-hoc special case from the integration path. Raising poncho's timestep from 2 to 5 ms leaves its per-step cost nearly flat, so the consistency price can be recovered by taking fewer steps where accuracy allows.
Every other flex model was measured stable on Euler at its shipped timestep and switches to it (these models predate the post-hoc integrator; implicit was never load-bearing for them). They end up equal or faster than before: bunny_multicell 0.47 → 0.40, trampoline 0.28 → 0.25, plate 1.02 → 0.99, pancake 0.34 → 0.33.
Finally, the per-step factorization makes configurations practical that the old code could only integrate explicitly: implicit stretch elasticity (`elastic2d="stretch"`/`"both"`, dim-3 solids) and factorized interp stiffness. No before/after exists for these — stock has no implicit treatment of stretch at all.
### Behavior changes
- With the post-hoc correction deleted, interp/bending models running `solver="Newton"` (or elliptic cones, or islands) now integrate flex elasticity **explicitly** (previously: post-hoc implicit). Affects e.g. `gripper_trilinear` (stable, and faster, but different semantics). Follow-up options: Newton-side metric support, or a documented fallback.
- With the gate on, `mj_forward` outputs are timestep-dependent for gated models (they answer the linearly-implicit discrete problem); `qacc_smooth` and `mj_inverse` change accordingly. Non-gated models are bit-identical (full suite green throughout).
### Validation
- 1737/1737 tests, including new: `FlexStretchDerivatives` (FD-validated GN operator), `FlexStiffAssemble`/`FlexStiffAssembleInterp` (CSR ≡ operators), `GatedFlexInverseConsistency` (fails pre-change), equivalence tests vs the old post-hoc treatment (bending matches to 2e-11).
- Fingerprint discipline throughout: bending-only models bit-exact across every refactor; permutation/kernel changes verified iteration-identical.
### Known follow-ups (not in this CL)
3×3-block sparse Cholesky kernel (the numeric factorization is index-bound; projected ~3× on the factor); mjModel persistence of the factor's symbolic pattern (rest-pose ND makes sizes compile-time); the general effective-metric mode (all solvers, all PSD-safe force classes, behind an enable flag).
PiperOrigin-RevId: 948561856
Change-Id: I8b8e32ebd0428042af71647d0470d10773bf6daf
The gyroscopic (bias) derivatives applied to standalone free bodies by the
implicitfast integrator provide comparable stability for spinning bodies,
with none of midpoint's restrictions: they apply under contacts, fluid
forces and constraints, and preserve the linear force-velocity relation
required by discrete-time inverse dynamics. The invdiscrete flag reverts to
its original single meaning and no longer affects forward dynamics.
Restore implicitfast coverage in the DiscreteInverseMatch test, removed
when midpoint made discrete inverse dynamics untestable.
Add implicit gyroscopic (bias) derivatives for free bodies in implicitfast.
The implicitfast integrator drops the RNE (bias) derivative to stay on the
symmetric Cholesky path, so fast-spinning free bodies integrate gyroscopic
forces explicitly and can gain energy. Symmetrizing the gyroscopic Jacobian
is not an option: its stabilizing content is the antisymmetric part, and
adding only the symmetric part is destabilizing.
Instead, exploit the fact that for a standalone free body the 6x6 block of
M - h*D is decoupled from the rest of the system (qDeriv sparsity is
tree-local): after the global solve, rebuild the block with the exact bias
derivative in closed form (mjd_freeBias_vel) and re-solve it with dense
unsymmetric LU, overwriting the block's rows of qacc. For lone spinning
bodies this makes implicitfast match implicit to rounding, at ~150ns per
eligible body: cheaper than the midpoint machinery it will replace.
Eligibility is structural only; contacts, fluid and constraints need no
gating. The same block is mirrored in discrete inverse dynamics
(mj_discreteAcc), making invdiscrete exact for spinning free bodies.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 948472495
Change-Id: I813ef3d98c7b399881bc8603b9f9208cfb02eb58
An actuator now owns a block of consecutive controls
(actuator_ctrladr/ctrlnum, width defined by the actuator type) and a block
of consecutive force outputs (actuator_outadr/outnum, width defined by the
transmission type). Force outputs are the scalars of actuation space: one
force, length, velocity and moment row each. nout = dim(actuator_force) is
derived from transmission types; all current types have width 1, so all
three counts coincide for every existing model and behavior is bit-exact.
Array re-keying: ctrlrange/ctrllimited by nu; forcerange/forcelimited/gear/
acc0/length0/lengthrange and the moment row structure by nout; everything
else per actuator. The mjModel actuator block is re-sorted by size key.
Layout-breaking, not behavior-breaking: saved .mjb files are invalidated
(size list changed) and recompilation is required.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 948351772
Change-Id: Icbc196ffa083cb1eaa6f1a3710869c89d8f62540
Skip flexedge velocity calculation for rigid and interpolated flexes, as they are not used in those cases. The computation is now done per-flex, only for the edges within each non-rigid, non-interpolated flex.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 915907396
Change-Id: I0beb1f98f0115c83da13fed184e89101f57563ab
This gives a 3x speedup in implicitfast.
Also cleanup old code that was used in the dense factorization of the stiffness matrix before we switched to CG.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 915900315
Change-Id: Id6973c4bfd7d371a43ec6db982703969b23a3550
The flex interp stiffness matrix is Negative Semi-Definite (NSD). When forming the RHS for implicit integration, the term involving the velocity and stiffness should be added, not subtracted. A new test is added to ensure energy stability for flex interp stretch stiffness with the implicitfast integrator.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 914845245
Change-Id: Iaaf0914909128e64e195f17cc5f2f344a8a43bc2
Standard flex (flex_interp=0) with thin-plate bending treated bending forces purely explicitly. This caused contact-induced vertex vibrations and non-physical energy injection for flat resting sheets, because the solver treated each vertex as an independent mass during contact and contact normals are orthogonal to stretch constraints.
Fix: extend the existing preconditioned CG solver to include the constant bending stiffness K_bend in the implicit operator via matrix-free mat-vec.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 914774020
Change-Id: I45e0d6749abb6f873566203bccae956514b2576b
with a preconditioned Conjugate Gradient (CG) solver that operates
on the full system matrix.
The previous approach extracted flex DOFs into a reduced banded system,
factored it separately, and overwrote the global solve. This required
precomputed bandwidth (makeFlexBandwidth), parent-joint detection,
coupling corrections, and a FlexInterpContext struct — and only worked
for standalone flex trees without parent joints.
The new CG solver uses the already-factored global system (M - h*qDeriv)
as a preconditioner and adds the flex stiffness contribution via
matrix-free products (mjd_flexInterp_mulKD/mulK). This handles any
kinematic configuration — including flexes attached to articulated
chains or with parent joints — without sparsity pattern restrictions.
Before (`bunny_multicell`):
```
Simulation time : 50.80 s
Steps per second : 197
Realtime factor : 0.20 x
Time per step : 5080.3 µs
CG iters / step : 3.16
Contacts / step : 31.04
Constraints / step : 124.15
Degrees of freedom : 178
Dynamic memory usage : 0.4% of 100M
```
After:
```
Simulation time : 9.52 s
Steps per second : 1051
Realtime factor : 1.05 x
Time per step : 951.7 µs
CG iters / step : 3.21
Contacts / step : 30.90
Constraints / step : 123.61
Degrees of freedom : 178
Dynamic memory usage : 0.3% of 100M
```
PiperOrigin-RevId: 913758038
Change-Id: If5aa617b2d535c86aec9bd71c9e0003a2b38bdd7
Total testspeed runtime for `2humanoids100.xml` reduced by 27.6% (63.4 -> 49.5s) due to early termination on small islands
PiperOrigin-RevId: 906910915
Change-Id: If55ad468c3680ef44eda7000455a77f8003b3122
The flex interpolation stiffness matrix within the implicit/implicitfast solvers is now built and factorized in a banded format instead of a dense one. This involves:
- Calculating the bandwidth based on the sparsity of the mass/damping matrix and the connectivity within flex cells.
- Allocating and populating a banded matrix `H`.
- Using `mju_cholFactorBand` and `mju_cholSolveBand` for factorization and solving.
This change improves performance for flexes with many DOFs but local coupling.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 901297952
Change-Id: I3efe06353d1903ea65ab30dc49685cede228bb68
The reduced dense factorization for flex interpolation now considers all DOFs in the kinematic chain of the body containing the flex, using mj_bodyChain, instead of only the DOFs directly associated with that body. This is necessary for correctly handling pinned flexes when their parent body is part of a larger kinematic structure.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 872854468
Change-Id: Idbe9fb459084dde9e8eb1076c70dbb685c1b0bdb
The derivative calculation for actuator velocity in implicit integrators now correctly accounts for the `actearly` flag, using the next activation value when `actearly` is true.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 868598722
Change-Id: Ia180afb15b31a718170aeaf9d4ac514bb9e6073b
The implicit integrator was not correctly accounting for the off-diagonal coupling terms between flex and non-flex (parent) degrees of freedom in the mass matrix. This change extracts these coupling terms during the factorization step and applies a correction to the flex forces before solving for the flex accelerations, ensuring that the parent accelerations influence the flex dynamics. A new test verifies that the implicit integrator now matches Euler for small timesteps in a model with flex-parent coupling.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 868098126
Change-Id: Ia8cccd7dd428cd0c0898e1663a7e41017a2311b2
The functions and associated tests related to managing time-stamped data buffers have been renamed from `mju_delay*` to `mju_history*` to better reflect their general purpose beyond just handling delays.
PiperOrigin-RevId: 866978339
Change-Id: I8655e91bce783287ad2adc412d13a1c39aa2c322
Sam Haves