MicroDuck Simulator: Controls & Your First Walk

Start with one short walk.

You need a browser and a keyboard for this exercise. You do not need a robot, Python installation or training account. Open the Official MicroDuck simulator ↗; if the embedded view is cramped, open the simulator directly ↗.

Let the scene and policies finish loading. Initial downloads can take a while; in our check, the physics and model files loaded before the welcome screen became usable.
Choose Waddle In or press Enter. If you return to the welcome overlay after starting, the button says Resume.
Stay in Feet mode. Hold ↑ briefly, then release it. The robot should move and the speed readout should respond.
Hold ← or → to turn. These controls change heading; they are not sideways steps.
Press Space to reset the robot. Reset is useful after losing your place or falling; do not use the odometer alone to decide whether it worked.

Checked on a desktop Chromium browser, September 8, 2026: entry, forward movement and reset. During the movement check, the speed display changed from zero to a nonzero reading and returned to zero after reset. This is an interaction check, not a speed benchmark. Other controls below were checked against source code.

Use the current browser controls.

Keyboard controls for the reviewed browser simulator
Control	What it does
`↑` / `↓` or `W` / `S`	Hold to move forward or backward. Release to stop commanding movement.
`←` / `→` or `A` / `D`	Turn left or right.
`R`	Sit / stand in feet mode; crouch-glide in roller mode.
`Q` / `E`	Left / right kick in feet mode. `F` alternates kicks.
`G`	Ground-pick action in feet mode.
`M` or the Feet / Rollers buttons	Switch locomotion mode. The first roller switch loads additional assets.
`C`; drag; scroll	Toggle chase camera; orbit; zoom.
`Space`	Reset the robot.

The table uses QWERTY labels. The implementation reads physical key positions, and another keyboard layout may show different letters. Start with the arrows when in doubt. Browser keyboard implementation ↗.

R is not a browser roll shortcut in this revision. Older walkthroughs and the separate local Python viewer can describe a different mapping. Check the guide for the environment you actually opened.

If the first attempt does not work.

Keys do nothing: dismiss the welcome overlay, click the simulation, then try an arrow. If using the Hugging Face wrapper, try the direct simulator link above.
Rollers load slowly: wait for the first mode change to finish before repeating it. Walking and roller assets are loaded separately.
The robot will not kick: return to Feet mode. Kicks and ground pick are mode-specific actions.
Loading never finishes: the official README documents ?boot=1 for loading diagnostics. It can expose the asset or policy error behind a halted boot. Copy that error into a report.

See Simulator README: modes, loading and controls ↗ for touch, gamepad and boot details. Those input methods were not exercised in our desktop check.

Give the next experiment a question.

Try “Does the robot stop turning when I release the arrow?” Start from a reset, hold one control briefly, release it, and describe the result. Change one control per attempt. A browser movement uses an already trained policy; creating a new behavior takes a separate training run.

Continue with your result.

Choose a training route →Find a loading or control problem →

CONTINUE THE CONVERSATION

What would you like to understand next?

Keep the source, your environment and your observations together.