dm_control OpenEnv Environment

A generic OpenEnv environment for dm_control.suite, providing access to all MuJoCo-based continuous control tasks.

Supported Environments

Domain	Tasks
cartpole	balance, swingup, swingup_sparse
walker	stand, walk, run
humanoid	stand, walk, run
cheetah	run
hopper	stand, hop
reacher	easy, hard
pendulum	swingup
finger	spin, turn_easy, turn_hard
fish	upright, swim
ball_in_cup	catch
And more…	See dm_control.suite.BENCHMARKING

Quick Start

Using the Client

from envs.dm_control_env import DMControlEnv, DMControlAction

# Connect to a running server
with DMControlEnv(base_url="http://localhost:8000") as env:
    # Reset with default (cartpole/balance)
    result = env.reset()
    print(f"Observations: {result.observation.observations.keys()}")

    # Take actions
    for _ in range(100):
        action = DMControlAction(values=[0.5])  # Push cart right
        result = env.step(action)
        print(f"Reward: {result.reward}, Done: {result.done}")

        if result.done:
            result = env.reset()

Switching Environments

# Start with cartpole
result = env.reset(domain_name="cartpole", task_name="balance")

# Switch to walker (on next reset)
result = env.reset(domain_name="walker", task_name="walk")
# Note: walker has 6 action dimensions
action = DMControlAction(values=[0.0] * 6)
result = env.step(action)

Running the Server

# From OpenEnv root
cd envs/dm_control_env
uvicorn server.app:app --host 0.0.0.0 --port 8000

# Or using uv
uv run --project . server

Using Docker

# Build
docker build -t dm_control:latest -f server/Dockerfile .

# Run
docker run -p 8000:8000 dm_control:latest

API

Action

class DMControlAction(Action):
    values: List[float]  # Continuous action values

Action dimensions vary by environment:

• cartpole: 1 (force on cart)

• walker: 6 (joint torques)

• humanoid: 21 (joint torques)

Observation

class DMControlObservation(Observation):
    observations: Dict[str, List[float]]  # Named observation arrays
    pixels: Optional[str]  # Base64 PNG (if render=True)
    reward: float
    done: bool

State

class DMControlState(State):
    domain_name: str
    task_name: str
    action_spec: Dict[str, Any]
    observation_spec: Dict[str, Any]
    physics_timestep: float
    control_timestep: float
    episode_id: str
    step_count: int

Examples

See the examples/ directory:

• cartpole_control.py - Interactive cartpole control with arrow keys

• hopper_control.py - Interactive hopper control with spacebar for random forces

• quadruped_control.py - Interactive quadruped control with spacebar for random forces

• list_environments.py - Print all available environments

All examples support consistent CLI arguments:

# Default: interactive mode with minimal pygame window
python examples/cartpole_control.py

# Visual mode with rendered MuJoCo frames
python examples/cartpole_control.py --visual

# Headless mode (no pygame, automated control)
python examples/cartpole_control.py --headless --max-steps 500

# Select a different task
python examples/cartpole_control.py --task swingup
python examples/hopper_control.py --task stand
python examples/quadruped_control.py --task run

Environment Variables

Variable	Default	Description
DMCONTROL_DOMAIN	cartpole	Default domain
DMCONTROL_TASK	balance	Default task
DMCONTROL_RENDER_HEIGHT	480	Render height
DMCONTROL_RENDER_WIDTH	640	Render width