# Predictive Sampling: Real-time Behaviour Synthesis with MuJoCo

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2212.00541 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2212.00541/

## Key facts

- Cited by 47 papers in the map (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- First posted on arXiv 1 Dec 2022.

## Built on by (most cited first, 30 of 47)

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- [RoboPianist: Dexterous Piano Playing with Deep Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2304.04150/) (2023)
- [Physics-Driven Data Generation for Contact-Rich Manipulation via Trajectory Optimization](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.20382/) (2025)
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- [Jacta: A Versatile Planner for Learning Dexterous and Whole-body Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2408.01258/) (2024)
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- [Differentiable Simulation of Hard Contacts with Soft Gradients for Learning and Control](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.14186/) (2025)
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- [Chasing Stability: Humanoid Running via Control Lyapunov Function Guided Reinforcement Learning](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2509.19573/) (2025)
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- [Benchmarking Model Predictive Control and Reinforcement Learning Based Control for Legged Robot Locomotion in MuJoCo Simulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2501.16590/) (2025)
- [Scalable, Training-Free Visual Language Robotics: A Modular Multi-Model Framework for Consumer-Grade GPUs](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.01071/) (2025)
- [Generative Models From and For Sampling-Based MPC: A Bootstrapped Approach For Adaptive Contact-Rich Manipulation](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2510.14643/) (2025)
- [Training Fast Robot Policies with Slow Foundation Models](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2406.05881/) (2024)
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- [Robust Reward Alignment via Hypothesis Space Batch Cutting](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.02921/) (2025)
- [Diffusion-based Planning with Learned Viability Filters](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2502.19564/) (2025)
- [Latent Linear Quadratic Regulator for Robotic Control Tasks](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2407.11107/) (2024)
- [Incremental Few-Shot Adaptation for Non-Prehensile Object Manipulation using Parallelizable Physics Simulators](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2409.13228/) (2024)
- [Multi-person Physics-based Pose Estimation for Combat Sports](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2504.08175/) (2025)
- [Bipedal Balance Control with Whole-body Musculoskeletal Standing and Falling Simulations](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2506.09383/) (2025)
- [Efficient On-policy Visual-RL via Stochastic Decoupled Policy Gradient](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2605.26478/) (2026)
- [Learning Action-Conditional and Object-Centric Gaussian Splatting World Models for Rigid Objects](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2606.01950/) (2026)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We introduce MuJoCo MPC (MJPC), an open-source, interactive application and software framework for real-time predictive control, based on MuJoCo physics. MJPC allows the user to easily author and solve complex robotics tasks, and currently supports three shooting-based planners: derivative-based iLQG and Gradient Descent, and a simple derivative-free method we call Predictive Sampling. Predictive Sampling was designed as an elementary baseline, mostly for its pedagogical value, but turned out to be surprisingly competitive with the more established algorithms. This work does not present algorithmic advances, and instead, prioritises performant algorithms, simple code, and accessibility of model-based methods via intuitive and interactive software. MJPC is available at: github.com/deepmind/mujoco_mpc, a video summary can be viewed at: dpmd.ai/mjpc.