Isaac Sim Setup

Isaac Sim is NVIDIA’s robotics simulation platform powered by Omniverse.

Isaac Sim can be used to run and test the ROS 2 applications. There are two ways we can configure the system.

• Software in the Loop

• Hardware in the Loop

Software in the Loop (SIL) refers to a configuration where the software being tested is not running on the target hardware platform. For example, Isaac ROS packages being tested on x86 before deployment on a Jetson device is SIL.

Hardware in the Loop (HIL) refers to a configuration where the software is being tested on the target hardware platform. For example, Isaac ROS packages being tested on a Jetson device before deployment is HIL.

In both the configurations, Isaac Sim always runs on a x86_64 machine providing sensor data and world information.

1. Install Isaac Sim, choosing the appropriate working environment:

   • Native

   • Docker

   • Cloud

   Note

   This tutorial assumes the Native environment for Isaac Sim.

2. Follow the Running Native ROS instructions to ensure that ROS 2 and the required packages are installed to successfully enable the ROS 2 Bridge in Omniverse Isaac Sim.

3. Follow the instructions to launch Isaac Sim App Selector window.

   

4. Using Isaac Sim ROS 2 libraryUsing bare-metal ROS 2 library

   If you don’t have a system level ROS 2 install, follow the steps outlined here under ROS 2 -> Humble.

   Optionally, if ROS_DOMAIN_ID is needed to create a separate logical network, run the the following commands.

   export ROS_DOMAIN_ID=<your_domain_id>
   

5. Launch Isaac Sim.

   ./isaac-sim.sh
   

6. Open Isaac ROS Sample scene as shown below.

   

7. Continue with the next steps in your specific Isaac ROS package tutorial.

   Note

   Make sure to set the ROS_DOMAIN_ID environment variable (if set earlier) before running the sample application.