Updates simulation flags for performance improvements (#23)

* adds flag for verbosity of onnx export
* updates documentation of flags in SimCfg
* upgrades sim flags for additional speed-ups
* fixes experiment name in rsl-rl train files
* updates version for the extension

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

 [package]
 
 # Note: Semantic Versioning is used: https://semver.org/
-version = "0.2.0"
+version = "0.2.1"
 
 # Description
 title = "ORBIT Environments"

source/extensions/omni.isaac.orbit_envs/data/rsl_rl/cabinet_ppo.yaml

@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ runner:
 
   # logging
   save_interval: 50  # check for potential saves every this many iterations
-  experiment_name: "reach"
+  experiment_name: "cabinet"
   run_name: ""
   # load and resume
   resume: False

source/extensions/omni.isaac.orbit_envs/data/rsl_rl/cartpole_ppo.yaml

@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ runner:
 
   # logging
   save_interval: 50  # check for potential saves every this many iterations
-  experiment_name: "lift"
+  experiment_name: "cartpole"
   run_name: ""
   # load and resume
   resume: False

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

 Changelog
 ---------
 
+0.2.1 (2023-03-01)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Added
+^^^^^
+
+* Added a flag ``disable_contact_processing`` to the :class:`SimCfg` class to handle
+  contact processing effectively when using TensorAPIs for contact reporting.
+* Added verbosity flag to :meth:`export_policy_as_onnx` to print model summary.
+
+Fixed
+^^^^^
+
+* Clarified the documentation of flags in the :class:`SimCfg` class.
+* Added enabling of ``omni.kit.viewport`` and ``omni.replicator.isaac`` extensions
+  dynamically to maintain order in the startup of extensions.
+* Corrected the experiment names in the configuration files for training environments with ``rsl_rl``.
+
+Changed
+^^^^^^^
+
+* Changed the default value of ``enable_scene_query_support`` in :class:`SimCfg` class to False.
+  The flag is overridden to True inside :class:`IsaacEnv` class when running the simulation in
+  non-headless mode.
+
 0.2.0 (2023-01-25)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

source/extensions/omni.isaac.orbit_envs/omni/isaac/orbit_envs/isaac_env.py

@@ -15,12 +15,10 @@ import carb
 import omni.isaac.core.utils.prims as prim_utils
 import omni.isaac.core.utils.stage as stage_utils
 import omni.isaac.core.utils.torch as torch_utils
-import omni.replicator.core as rep
 import omni.usd
 from omni.isaac.cloner import GridCloner
 from omni.isaac.core.simulation_context import SimulationContext
-from omni.isaac.core.utils.carb import set_carb_setting
-from omni.isaac.core.utils.extensions import disable_extension
+from omni.isaac.core.utils.extensions import enable_extension
 from omni.isaac.core.utils.viewports import set_camera_view
 
 from .isaac_env_cfg import IsaacEnvCfg
@@ -105,6 +103,8 @@ class IsaacEnv(gym.Env):
             if "physx" in sim_params:
                 physx_params = sim_params.pop("physx")
                 sim_params.update(physx_params)
+        # set flags for simulator
+        self._configure_simulation_flags(sim_params)
         # create a simulation context to control the simulator
         self.sim = SimulationContext(
             stage_units_in_meters=1.0,
@@ -115,8 +115,6 @@ class IsaacEnv(gym.Env):
             physics_prim_path="/physicsScene",
             device=self.device,
         )
-        # set flags for simulator
-        self._configure_simulation_flags(sim_params)
         # add flag for checking closing status
         self._is_closed = False
 
@@ -191,6 +189,8 @@ class IsaacEnv(gym.Env):
         Args:
             seed (int, optional): The seed for random generator. Defaults to -1.
         """
+        import omni.replicator.core as rep
+
         rep.set_global_seed(seed)
         return torch_utils.set_seed(seed)
 
@@ -390,20 +390,27 @@ class IsaacEnv(gym.Env):
     """
 
     def _configure_simulation_flags(self, sim_params: dict = None):
-        """Configure the various flags for performance.
-
-        This function enables flat-cache for speeding up GPU pipeline, enables hydra scene-graph
-        instancing for visualizing multiple instances when flatcache is enabled, and disables the
-        viewport if running in headless mode.
-        """
-        # enable flat-cache for speeding up GPU pipeline
-        if self.sim.get_physics_context().use_gpu_pipeline:
-            self.sim.get_physics_context().enable_flatcache(True)
+        """Configure various simulation flags for performance improvements at load and run time."""
+        # acquire settings interface
+        carb_settings_iface = carb.settings.get_settings()
         # enable hydra scene-graph instancing
-        # Think: Create your own carb-settings instance?
-        set_carb_setting(self.sim._settings, "/persistent/omnihydra/useSceneGraphInstancing", True)
-        # check viewport settings
-        if sim_params and "enable_viewport" in sim_params:
-            # if viewport is disabled, then don't create a window (minor speedups)
-            if not sim_params["enable_viewport"]:
-                disable_extension("omni.kit.viewport.window")
+        # note: this allows rendering of instanceable assets on the GUI
+        carb_settings_iface.set_bool("/persistent/omnihydra/useSceneGraphInstancing", True)
+        # change dispatcher to use the default dispatcher in PhysX SDK instead of carb tasking
+        # note: dispatcher handles how threads are launched for multi-threaded physics
+        carb_settings_iface.set_bool("/physics/physxDispatcher", True)
+        # disable contact processing in omni.physx if requested
+        # note: helpful when creating contact reporting over limited number of objects in the scene
+        if sim_params["disable_contact_processing"]:
+            carb_settings_iface.set_bool("/physics/disableContactProcessing", True)
+
+        # set flags based on whether rendering is enabled or not
+        if self.enable_render:
+            # enable scene querying if rendering is enabled
+            # this is needed for some GUI features
+            sim_params["enable_scene_query_support"] = True
+            # enable viewport extension if not running in headless mode
+            enable_extension("omni.kit.viewport.bundle")
+        # enable isaac replicator extension
+        # note: moved here since it requires to have the viewport extension to be enabled first.
+        enable_extension("omni.replicator.isaac")

source/extensions/omni.isaac.orbit_envs/omni/isaac/orbit_envs/isaac_env_cfg.py

@@ -151,31 +151,58 @@ class SimCfg:
     gravity: Tuple[float, float, float] = (0.0, 0.0, -9.81)
     """The gravity vector (in m/s^2). Default is (0.0, 0.0, -9.81)."""
 
-    enable_scene_query_support: bool = True
-    """Enable/disable scene query support when using instanced assets. Default is True.
+    enable_scene_query_support: bool = False
+    """Enable/disable scene query support for collision shapes. Default is False.
 
-    If this is set to False, the geometries of instances assets will appear stationary. However, this
-    can also provide some performance speed-up.
+    This flag allows performing collision queries (raycasts, sweeps, and overlaps) on actors and
+    attached shapes in the scene. This is useful for implementing custom collision detection logic
+    outside of the physics engine.
+
+    If set to False, the physics engine does not create the scene query manager and the scene query
+    functionality will not be available. However, this provides some performance speed-up.
+
+    Note:
+        This flag is overridden to True inside the :class:`IsaacEnv` class when running the simulation
+        with the GUI enabled. This is to allow certain GUI features to work properly.
     """
 
     replicate_physics: bool = True
     """Enable/disable replication of physics schemas when using the Cloner APIs. Default is False.
 
-    Note: In Isaac Sim 2022.2.0, domain randomization of material properties is not supported when
+    Note:
+        In Isaac Sim 2022.2.0, domain randomization of material properties is not supported when
         ``replicate_physics`` is set to True.
     """
 
-    use_flatcache: bool = True  # output from simulation to flat cache
+    use_flatcache: bool = True
     """Enable/disable reading of physics buffers directly. Default is True.
 
-    If this is set to False, the physics buffers will be read from USD, which leads to overhead with
-    massive parallelization.
+    When running the simulation, updates in the states in the scene is normally synchronized with USD.
+    This leads to an overhead in reading the data and does not scale well with massive parallelization.
+    This flag allows disabling the synchronization and reading the data directly from the physics buffers.
+
+    It is recommended to set this flag to :obj:`True` when running the simulation with a large number
+    of primitives in the scene.
+
+    Note:
+        When enabled, the GUI will not update the physics parameters in real-time. To enable real-time
+        updates, please set this flag to :obj:`False`.
+    """
+
+    disable_contact_processing: bool = False
+    """Enable/disable contact processing. Default is False.
+
+    By default, the physics engine processes all the contacts in the scene. However, reporting this contact
+    information can be expensive due to its combinatorial complexity. This flag allows disabling the contact
+    processing and querying the contacts manually by the user over a limited set of primitives in the scene.
+
+    It is recommended to set this flag to :obj:`True` when using the TensorAPIs for contact reporting.
     """
 
     use_gpu_pipeline: bool = True
     """Enable/disable GPU pipeline. Default is True.
 
-    If this is set to False, the physics data will be read as CPU buffers.
+    If set to False, the physics data will be read as CPU buffers.
     """
 
     device: str = "cuda:0"

source/extensions/omni.isaac.orbit_envs/omni/isaac/orbit_envs/utils/wrappers/rsl_rl.py

@@ -172,17 +172,18 @@ def export_policy_as_jit(actor_critic: object, path: str, filename="policy.pt"):
     policy_exporter.export(path, filename)
 
 
-def export_policy_as_onnx(actor_critic: object, path: str, filename="policy.onnx"):
+def export_policy_as_onnx(actor_critic: object, path: str, filename="policy.onnx", verbose=False):
     """Export policy into a Torch ONNX file.
 
     Args:
         actor_critic (object): The actor-critic torch module.
         path (str): The path to the saving directory.
         filename (str, optional): The name of exported JIT file. Defaults to "policy.pt".
+        verbose (bool, optional): Whether to print the model summary. Defaults to False.
     """
     if not os.path.exists(path):
         os.makedirs(path, exist_ok=True)
-    policy_exporter = _OnnxPolicyExporter(actor_critic)
+    policy_exporter = _OnnxPolicyExporter(actor_critic, verbose)
     policy_exporter.export(path, filename)
 
 
@@ -239,8 +240,9 @@ class _TorchPolicyExporter(torch.nn.Module):
 class _OnnxPolicyExporter(torch.nn.Module):
     """Exporter of actor-critic into ONNX file."""
 
-    def __init__(self, actor_critic):
+    def __init__(self, actor_critic, verbose=False):
         super().__init__()
+        self.verbose = verbose
         self.actor = copy.deepcopy(actor_critic.actor)
         self.is_recurrent = actor_critic.is_recurrent
         if self.is_recurrent:
@@ -269,7 +271,7 @@ class _OnnxPolicyExporter(torch.nn.Module):
                 os.path.join(path, filename),
                 export_params=True,
                 opset_version=11,
-                verbose=True,
+                verbose=self.verbose,
                 input_names=["obs", "h_in", "c_in"],
                 output_names=["actions", "h_out", "c_out"],
                 dynamic_axes={},
@@ -282,7 +284,7 @@ class _OnnxPolicyExporter(torch.nn.Module):
                 os.path.join(path, filename),
                 export_params=True,
                 opset_version=11,
-                verbose=True,
+                verbose=self.verbose,
                 input_names=["obs"],
                 output_names=["actions"],
                 dynamic_axes={},