Adds `ArticulationActions` type to the core framework (#1292)

Earlier, we were depending on Isaac Sim's for the articulation action
type. The type-hinting for the attributes in there used numpy and list.
However, the Isaac Lab framework uses torch tensors everywhere so this
led to pylance complaining about the types.

The MR makes a drop in replacement with the correct types for our
usecases.

- New feature (non-breaking change which adds functionality)

- [x] I have run the [`pre-commit` checks](https://pre-commit.com/) with
`./isaaclab.sh --format`
- [x] I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
- [x] My changes generate no new warnings
- [ ] I have added tests that prove my fix is effective or that my
feature works
- [x] I have updated the changelog and the corresponding version in the
extension's `config/extension.toml` file
- [x] I have added my name to the `CONTRIBUTORS.md` or my name already
exists there

docs/source/api/lab/omni.isaac.lab.utils.rst

@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
       noise
       string
       timer
+      types
       warp
 
    .. Rubric:: Functions
@@ -123,6 +124,13 @@ Timer operations
    :members:
    :show-inheritance:
 
+Type operations
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+.. automodule:: omni.isaac.lab.utils.types
+   :members:
+   :show-inheritance:
+
 Warp operations
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/config/extension.toml

 [package]
 
 # Note: Semantic Versioning is used: https://semver.org/
-version = "0.27.8"
+version = "0.27.9"
 
 # Description
 title = "Isaac Lab framework for Robot Learning"

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/docs/CHANGELOG.rst

 Changelog
 ---------
 
+0.27.9 (2024-11-01)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Added
+^^^^^
+
+* Added the :class:`omni.isaac.lab.utils.types.ArticulationActions` class to store the joint actions
+  for an articulation. Earlier, the class from Isaac Sim was being used. However, it used a different
+  type for the joint actions which was not compatible with the Isaac Lab framework.
+
+
 0.27.8 (2024-11-01)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
@@ -91,7 +102,7 @@ Added
   :attr:`omni.isaac.lab.envs.ManagerBasedRLEnvCfg.commands` as None. Before, this had to be done using
   the class :class:`omni.isaac.lab.command_generators.NullCommandGenerator`.
 * Moved the ``meshes`` attribute in the :class:`omni.isaac.lab.sensors.RayCaster` class from class variable to instance variable.
-   This prevents the meshes to overwrite each other.
+  This prevents the meshes to overwrite each other.
 
 
 0.26.0 (2024-10-16)

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/omni/isaac/lab/actuators/actuator_base.py

@@ -10,9 +10,8 @@ from abc import ABC, abstractmethod
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from omni.isaac.core.utils.types import ArticulationActions
-
 import omni.isaac.lab.utils.string as string_utils
+from omni.isaac.lab.utils.types import ArticulationActions
 
 if TYPE_CHECKING:
     from .actuator_cfg import ActuatorBaseCfg

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/omni/isaac/lab/actuators/actuator_net.py

@@ -18,9 +18,8 @@ import torch
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from omni.isaac.core.utils.types import ArticulationActions
-
 from omni.isaac.lab.utils.assets import read_file
+from omni.isaac.lab.utils.types import ArticulationActions
 
 from .actuator_pd import DCMotor
 

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/omni/isaac/lab/actuators/actuator_pd.py

@@ -9,9 +9,8 @@ import torch
 from collections.abc import Sequence
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 
-from omni.isaac.core.utils.types import ArticulationActions
-
 from omni.isaac.lab.utils import DelayBuffer, LinearInterpolation
+from omni.isaac.lab.utils.types import ArticulationActions
 
 from .actuator_base import ActuatorBase
 
@@ -63,7 +62,22 @@ class ImplicitActuator(ActuatorBase):
     def compute(
         self, control_action: ArticulationActions, joint_pos: torch.Tensor, joint_vel: torch.Tensor
     ) -> ArticulationActions:
-        """Compute the aproximmate torques for the actuated joint (physX does not compute this explicitly)."""
+        """Process the actuator group actions and compute the articulation actions.
+
+        In case of implicit actuator, the control action is directly returned as the computed action.
+        This function is a no-op and does not perform any computation on the input control action.
+        However, it computes the approximate torques for the actuated joint since PhysX does not compute
+        this quantity explicitly.
+
+        Args:
+            control_action: The joint action instance comprising of the desired joint positions, joint velocities
+                and (feed-forward) joint efforts.
+            joint_pos: The current joint positions of the joints in the group. Shape is (num_envs, num_joints).
+            joint_vel: The current joint velocities of the joints in the group. Shape is (num_envs, num_joints).
+
+        Returns:
+            The computed desired joint positions, joint velocities and joint efforts.
+        """
         # store approximate torques for reward computation
         error_pos = control_action.joint_positions - joint_pos
         error_vel = control_action.joint_velocities - joint_vel

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/omni/isaac/lab/assets/articulation/articulation.py

@@ -16,13 +16,13 @@ from typing import TYPE_CHECKING
 import omni.isaac.core.utils.stage as stage_utils
 import omni.log
 import omni.physics.tensors.impl.api as physx
-from omni.isaac.core.utils.types import ArticulationActions
 from pxr import PhysxSchema, UsdPhysics
 
 import omni.isaac.lab.sim as sim_utils
 import omni.isaac.lab.utils.math as math_utils
 import omni.isaac.lab.utils.string as string_utils
 from omni.isaac.lab.actuators import ActuatorBase, ActuatorBaseCfg, ImplicitActuator
+from omni.isaac.lab.utils.types import ArticulationActions
 
 from ..asset_base import AssetBase
 from .articulation_data import ArticulationData

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/omni/isaac/lab/utils/__init__.py

@@ -13,3 +13,4 @@ from .interpolation import *
 from .modifiers import *
 from .string import *
 from .timer import Timer
+from .types import *

source/extensions/omni.isaac.lab/omni/isaac/lab/utils/types.py

+# Copyright (c) 2022-2024, The Isaac Lab Project Developers.
+# All rights reserved.
+#
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: BSD-3-Clause
+
+"""Sub-module for different data types."""
+
+from __future__ import annotations
+
+import torch
+from collections.abc import Sequence
+from dataclasses import dataclass
+
+
+@dataclass
+class ArticulationActions:
+    """Data container to store articulation's joints actions.
+
+    This class is used to store the actions of the joints of an articulation.
+    It is used to store the joint positions, velocities, efforts, and indices.
+
+    If the actions are not provided, the values are set to None.
+    """
+
+    joint_positions: torch.Tensor | None = None
+    """The joint positions of the articulation. Defaults to None."""
+
+    joint_velocities: torch.Tensor | None = None
+    """The joint velocities of the articulation. Defaults to None."""
+
+    joint_efforts: torch.Tensor | None = None
+    """The joint efforts of the articulation. Defaults to None."""
+
+    joint_indices: torch.Tensor | Sequence[int] | slice | None = None
+    """The joint indices of the articulation. Defaults to None.
+
+    If the joint indices are a slice, this indicates that the indices are continuous and correspond
+    to all the joints of the articulation. We use a slice to make the indexing more efficient.
+    """