Fixes parsing of damping configuration in ActuatorBase (#247)

# Description

Previously, there was a bug that was setting stiffness to damping values
when configuration was passed as dictionaries. This MR fixes this issue.

## Type of change

- Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)

## Checklist

- [x] I have run the [`pre-commit` checks](https://pre-commit.com/) with
`./orbit.sh --format`
- [ ] 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

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

 [package]
 
 # Note: Semantic Versioning is used: https://semver.org/
-version = "0.9.41"
+version = "0.9.42"
 
 # Description
 title = "ORBIT framework for Robot Learning"

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

 Changelog
 ---------
 
+0.9.42 (2023-11-16)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Fixed
+^^^^^
+
+* Fixed setting of damping values from the configuration for :class:`ActuatorBase` class. Earlier,
+  the stiffness values were being set into damping when a dictionary configuration was passed to the
+  actuator model.
+* Added dealing with :class:`int` and :class:`float` values in the configurations of :class:`ActuatorBase`.
+  Earlier, a type-error was thrown when integer values were passed to the actuator model.
+
+
 0.9.41 (2023-11-16)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

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

@@ -78,21 +78,21 @@ class ActuatorBase(ABC):
         # parse joint stiffness and damping
         # -- stiffness
         if self.cfg.stiffness is not None:
-            if isinstance(self.cfg.stiffness, float):
+            if isinstance(self.cfg.stiffness, (float, int)):
                 # if float, then use the same value for all joints
-                self.stiffness[:] = self.cfg.stiffness
+                self.stiffness[:] = float(self.cfg.stiffness)
             else:
                 # if dict, then parse the regular expression
                 indices, _, values = string_utils.resolve_matching_names_values(self.cfg.stiffness, self.joint_names)
                 self.stiffness[:, indices] = torch.tensor(values, device=self._device)
         # -- damping
         if self.cfg.damping is not None:
-            if isinstance(self.cfg.damping, float):
+            if isinstance(self.cfg.damping, (float, int)):
                 # if float, then use the same value for all joints
-                self.damping[:] = self.cfg.damping
+                self.damping[:] = float(self.cfg.damping)
             else:
                 # if dict, then parse the regular expression
-                indices, _, values = string_utils.resolve_matching_names_values(self.cfg.stiffness, self.joint_names)
+                indices, _, values = string_utils.resolve_matching_names_values(self.cfg.damping, self.joint_names)
                 self.damping[:, indices] = torch.tensor(values, device=self._device)
 
     def __str__(self) -> str:

source/extensions/omni.isaac.orbit/omni/isaac/orbit/envs/mdp/actions/joint_actions.py

@@ -72,8 +72,8 @@ class JointAction(ActionTerm):
         self._processed_actions = torch.zeros_like(self.raw_actions)
 
         # parse scale
-        if isinstance(cfg.scale, float):
-            self._scale = cfg.scale
+        if isinstance(cfg.scale, (float, int)):
+            self._scale = float(cfg.scale)
         elif isinstance(cfg.scale, dict):
             self._scale = torch.ones(1.0, self.action_dim, device=self.device)
             # resolve the dictionary config
@@ -82,8 +82,8 @@ class JointAction(ActionTerm):
         else:
             raise ValueError(f"Unsupported scale type: {type(cfg.scale)}")
         # parse offset
-        if isinstance(cfg.offset, float):
-            self._offset = cfg.offset
+        if isinstance(cfg.offset, (float, int)):
+            self._offset = float(cfg.offset)
         elif isinstance(cfg.offset, dict):
             self._offset = torch.zeros_like(self._raw_actions)
             # resolve the dictionary config