Add Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow by peterd-NV · Pull Request #88 · isaac-sim/AutoData

peterd-NV · 2026-10-19T18:29:16Z

Summary

Add the Newton Franka rope softmimicgen workflow

Detailed description

Extend the Franka rope workflow to Newton, reusing the shared task and rope topology while adding the backend-specific physics and rendering configuration.

Configure rigid/deformable coupling, materials, collisions, robot gravity compensation, and cameras.
Add smooth nodal resets, rope visual skinning, and backend-aware annotation replay.
Include a Newton source dataset, extend shared environment and generation tests to Newton, and add a complete recording → annotation → generation test.

Stack layer 3/3: Core -> PhysX -> Newton. This PR targets the PhysX branch.

Validation: Formatting, lint, syntax, and task/embodiment configuration checks passed. Simulation tests were not run for this split.

Summary by CodeRabbit

New Features
- Added support for running the Franka rope task with the Newton physics backend, including rope simulation and rendering, plus table and gripper interactions.
- Newton is available as a preset for dataset generation and demonstration annotation.
- Added Newton support to rope recording, annotation, dataset generation, and SoftMimicGen workflows.
- Rope resets can smoothly transition the rope’s shape when configured.
Tests
- Expanded workflow checks to cover Newton rope behavior, contacts, and dataset generation.

coderabbitai · 2026-10-19T18:36:46Z

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Reviewing files that changed from the base of the PR and between 88e04d2 and 43816f1.

Files selected for processing: 8

autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/embodiment.py
autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/environment.py
autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/rope_asset.py
autodata_tests/e2e/test_rope_environment.py
autodata_tests/interfaces/env/test_franka_rope_arena.py
datasets/annotated_datasets/dataset_franka_rope_newton_annotated.hdf5
scripts/annotate_demos.py
scripts/generate_dataset.py

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Walkthrough

This change adds Newton physics support to the Franka rope environment, including solver and asset configuration, rope reset and rendering updates, and support for Newton recording and dataset workflows.

Changes: Newton Franka Rope Support

Layer / File(s)	Summary
Newton rope assets and physics `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/assets/RopeNewton.usda`, `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/rope_asset.py`, `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/newton_cfg.py`	Adds a Newton rope scene and spawn configuration. Adds Franka finger and table collider conversion, plus rigid and soft solver configuration.
Environment integration, resets, and visuals `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/embodiment.py`, `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/environment.py`, `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/mdp/events.py`, `autodata_examples/envs/isaac_lab_arena/franka_rope/newton_visuals.py`, `autodata_tests/interfaces/env/test_franka_rope_arena.py`, `autodata_tests/e2e/test_rope_environment.py`	Adds backend-specific environment and embodiment settings, optional smooth rope reset transitions, and visual mesh skinning from simulation particles. Tests cover configuration, reset state, contact capacity, table contacts, and visual alignment.
Newton recording and dataset workflows `scripts/annotate_demos.py`, `scripts/generate_dataset.py`, `autodata_tests/e2e/test_newton_rope_workflow.py`, `autodata_tests/e2e/test_softmimicgen_data_generation.py`, `autodata_tests/test_data/annotated_dataset_franka_rope_softmimicgen_newton.hdf5`, `datasets/annotated_datasets/dataset_franka_rope_newton_annotated.hdf5`	Adds Newton preset support to annotation and dataset generation. Annotation replay can control simulation-buffer resets. Tests cover Newton recording, annotation, generation, and SoftMimicGen input data.

Priority: Normal

Estimated code review effort: 4 (Complex) | ~45 minutes

Change: Feature

Sequence Diagram(s)

sequenceDiagram
  participant NewtonRopeManager
  participant NewtonParticleState
  participant WarpSkinningKernel
  participant RopeVisualMesh
  participant KitRenderer
  NewtonRopeManager->>NewtonParticleState: Read current particle positions
  NewtonRopeManager->>WarpSkinningKernel: Launch with positions and barycentric remap
  WarpSkinningKernel->>RopeVisualMesh: Write interpolated local-space points
  KitRenderer->>RopeVisualMesh: Read updated points for rendering

Possibly related PRs

isaac-sim/AutoData#85: Adds the SoftMimicGen workflow and core interfaces used by this PR’s Newton dataset-generation tests.

Merge Risk: Minimal · previous review 43816

No specific merge-blocking defect is established. Run the Newton simulation workflows before release, as their reported validation did not include simulation tests.

Pre-merge checks: 4 · 1

Failed checks: 1 warning

Check name	Status	Explanation	Resolution
Docstring Coverage		Docstring coverage is 47.50% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 40 functions across 12 files. (1 skipped:…	Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

Passed checks: 4 passed

Check name	Status	Explanation
Description check		The description includes the required Summary and Detailed description sections. It explains the reason, changes, impact, added tests, validation results, and the fact that simulation tests were not r…
Linked Issues check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Out of Scope Changes check		Check skipped because no linked issues were found for this pull request.
Title check		The title clearly and concisely describes the main change: adding a Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow.

Full details: Description check

Explanation

The description includes the required Summary and Detailed description sections. It explains the reason, changes, impact, added tests, validation results, and the fact that simulation tests were not run.

Full details: Docstring Coverage

Explanation

Docstring coverage is 47.50% which is insufficient. The required threshold is 80.00%. Docstring coverage is scoped to functions touched by this diff. Analyzed 40 functions across 12 files. (1 skipped: 1 unsupported.)

Resolution

Write docstrings for the functions missing them to satisfy the coverage threshold.

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bokalnv · 2026-10-27T14:55:34Z

 parser.add_argument("--num_envs", type=int, default=1, help="Number of parallel environments.")
 parser.add_argument(
-    "--presets", choices=("physx",), default=None, help="Physics backend preset for Arena environments."
+    "--presets", choices=("physx", "newton"), default=None, help="Physics backend preset for Arena environments."


since some workflows only work with newton, we should probably derive this from the dataset metadata, or document it in the workflow itself right?

The preset here is not for the Autodata workflows but rather for the underlying Arena env. The core data generation and datasets are agnostic to newton vs physx but the Arena env needs to know which physics preset to configure.

--preset is added to the some of the autodata scripts to pass this through to Arena envs if they are using them since a single Arena env can support multiple physics backends and the user needs to select them.

Thanks for clarifying

peterd-NV added this pull request to stack #87 October 19, 2026 18:29

peterd-NV force-pushed the peterd/smg-newton branch from 12f471f to d8686a4 Compare October 26, 2026 16:14

peterd-NV marked this pull request as ready for review October 26, 2026 16:15

peterd-NV requested a review from njawale42 as a code owner October 26, 2026 16:15

peterd-NV force-pushed the peterd/smg-newton branch from d8686a4 to 88e04d2 Compare October 26, 2026 18:12

coderabbitai Bot mentioned this pull request Oct 26, 2026

Add SoftMimicGen for deformable data generation #85

Open

peterd-NV force-pushed the peterd/smg-newton branch from 88e04d2 to dfc99b7 Compare October 26, 2026 21:06

peterd-NV changed the title ~~Add the Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow~~ Add Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow Oct 26, 2026

peterd-NV requested a review from bokalnv October 26, 2026 22:18

bokalnv reviewed Oct 27, 2026

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coderabbitai Bot mentioned this pull request Oct 27, 2026

Record metric inputs and run metadata during generation #84

Merged

peterd-NV added 2 commits October 27, 2026 14:13

Add the Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow

1e3c582

add newton user facing annotated dataset

d2464ad

peterd-NV force-pushed the peterd/smg-newton branch from 43816f1 to d2464ad Compare October 27, 2026 21:13

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Add Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow - #88

Add Newton Franka rope SoftMimicGen workflow#88
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