Adds disable sleeping global flag for physx

source/isaaclab/config/extension.toml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [package]
 
 # Note: Semantic Versioning is used: https://semver.org/
-version = "0.47.11"
+version = "0.49.0"
 
 # Description
 title = "Isaac Lab framework for Robot Learning"

source/isaaclab/docs/CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,23 @@
 Changelog
 ---------
 
+0.49.0 (2025-11-07)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Added
+^^^^^
+
+* Added two new PhysX configuration parameters to :class:`~isaaclab.sim.PhysxCfg`:
+
+  - :attr:`~isaaclab.sim.PhysxCfg.disable_sleeping`: Disables sleeping for all objects in the physics scene on a global level.
+    This flag is set to ``True`` by default and overrides any sleeping settings on individual bodies. If sleeping is required
+    on any individual body, this flag must be set to ``False``. Note that if ``disable_sleeping`` is set to ``False`` and the
+    directGPU pipeline is enabled, PhysX will issue an error and fail scene creation.
+  - :attr:`~isaaclab.sim.PhysxCfg.enable_external_forces_every_iteration`: Enables external forces to be applied every iteration.
+    This flag is set to ``False`` by default (standard PhysX behavior). Setting this to ``True`` can reduce noisy joint velocity
+    data from PhysX at a slight performance cost.
+
+
 0.47.11 (2025-11-03)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

source/isaaclab/isaaclab/sim/simulation_cfg.py

@@ -180,6 +180,26 @@ class PhysxCfg:
 
     """
 
+    disable_sleeping: bool = True
+    """Disable sleeping for all objects in the physics scene on a global level. Default is True.
+
+    This flag disables sleeping for all objects in the scene, overriding any sleeping settings on individual bodies.
+    If sleeping is required on any individual body, this flag must be set to False.
+
+    .. warning::
+
+        If :attr:`disable_sleeping` is set to False and the GPU pipeline is enabled, PhysX will issue an error
+        message and fail scene creation as this is not supported.
+    """
+
+    enable_external_forces_every_iteration: bool = False
+    """Enable external forces to be applied every iteration. Default is False.
+
+    When set to False (default), external forces are applied using the standard PhysX behavior, which may lead
+    to noisy joint velocity data from PhysX. Setting this to True will apply external forces at every iteration,
+    which can reduce the noise in joint velocity data at a slight performance cost.
+    """
+
 
 @configclass
 class RenderCfg:

source/isaaclab/isaaclab/sim/simulation_context.py

@@ -792,6 +792,26 @@ def _set_additional_physx_params(self):
         physx_prim.CreateAttribute("physxScene:solveArticulationContactLast", Sdf.ValueTypeNames.Bool).Set(
             self.cfg.physx.solve_articulation_contact_last
         )
+        # -- Disable sleeping globally
+        # This overrides any sleeping settings on individual bodies
+        physx_prim.CreateAttribute("physxSceneAPI:disableSleeping", Sdf.ValueTypeNames.Bool).Set(
+            self.cfg.physx.disable_sleeping
+        )
+        # Check if disable_sleeping is False with GPU pipeline enabled
+        if not self.cfg.physx.disable_sleeping:
+            # Check if GPU pipeline is enabled via the suppressReadback flag
+            suppress_readback = self.carb_settings.get_as_bool("/physics/suppressReadback")
+            if suppress_readback:
+                raise RuntimeError(
+                    "PhysX configuration error: 'disable_sleeping' is set to False while GPU pipeline is enabled "
+                    "(/physics/suppressReadback=True). This combination will cause PhysX to fail scene creation. "
+                    "Please set 'cfg.physx.disable_sleeping = True' or disable GPU pipeline."
+                )
+        # -- Enable external forces every iteration
+        # This can help reduce noisy joint velocity data from PhysX at a slight performance cost
+        physx_scene_api.CreateEnableExternalForcesEveryIterationAttr(
+            self.cfg.physx.enable_external_forces_every_iteration
+        )
 
         # -- Gravity
         # note: Isaac sim only takes the "up-axis" as the gravity direction. But physics allows any direction so we

source/isaaclab/test/sim/test_simulation_context.py

@@ -146,3 +146,109 @@ def test_zero_gravity():
     gravity_dir, gravity_mag = sim.get_physics_context().get_gravity()
     gravity = np.array(gravity_dir) * gravity_mag
     np.testing.assert_almost_equal(gravity, cfg.gravity)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.isaacsim_ci
+def test_disable_sleeping_setting():
+    """Test that the disable_sleeping PhysX setting is applied correctly."""
+    from pxr import PhysxSchema
+
+    # Test with disable_sleeping set to True (default)
+    cfg = SimulationCfg()
+    assert cfg.physx.disable_sleeping is True
+
+    sim = SimulationContext(cfg)
+
+    # Get the physics scene prim and check the attribute
+    stage = sim.stage
+    physics_scene_prim = stage.GetPrimAtPath(cfg.physics_prim_path)
+    assert physics_scene_prim.IsValid()
+
+    # Check that the attribute exists and is set to True
+    disable_sleeping_attr = physics_scene_prim.GetAttribute("physxSceneAPI:disableSleeping")
+    assert disable_sleeping_attr.IsValid()
+    assert disable_sleeping_attr.Get() is True
+
+
+@pytest.mark.isaacsim_ci
+def test_disable_sleeping_false_with_cpu():
+    """Test that disable_sleeping can be set to False when using CPU simulation."""
+    from pxr import PhysxSchema
+
+    # Test with disable_sleeping set to False and CPU device
+    cfg = SimulationCfg(device="cpu")
+    cfg.physx.disable_sleeping = False
+
+    sim = SimulationContext(cfg)
+
+    # Get the physics scene prim and check the attribute
+    stage = sim.stage
+    physics_scene_prim = stage.GetPrimAtPath(cfg.physics_prim_path)
+    assert physics_scene_prim.IsValid()
+
+    # Check that the attribute exists and is set to False
+    disable_sleeping_attr = physics_scene_prim.GetAttribute("physxSceneAPI:disableSleeping")
+    assert disable_sleeping_attr.IsValid()
+    assert disable_sleeping_attr.Get() is False
+
+
+@pytest.mark.isaacsim_ci
+def test_disable_sleeping_false_with_gpu_raises_error():
+    """Test that disable_sleeping=False with GPU simulation raises an error."""
+    # Test with disable_sleeping set to False and GPU device
+    cfg = SimulationCfg(device="cuda:0")
+    cfg.physx.disable_sleeping = False
+
+    # This should raise a RuntimeError because GPU pipeline + disable_sleeping=False is not supported
+    with pytest.raises(RuntimeError, match="disable_sleeping.*GPU pipeline"):
+        SimulationContext(cfg)
+
+
+@pytest.mark.isaacsim_ci
+def test_enable_external_forces_every_iteration_setting():
+    """Test that the enable_external_forces_every_iteration PhysX setting is applied correctly."""
+    from pxr import PhysxSchema
+
+    # Test with enable_external_forces_every_iteration set to False (default)
+    cfg = SimulationCfg()
+    assert cfg.physx.enable_external_forces_every_iteration is False
+
+    sim = SimulationContext(cfg)
+
+    # Get the physics scene API and check the attribute
+    stage = sim.stage
+    physics_scene_prim = stage.GetPrimAtPath(cfg.physics_prim_path)
+    assert physics_scene_prim.IsValid()
+
+    physx_scene_api = PhysxSchema.PhysxSceneAPI(physics_scene_prim)
+    assert physx_scene_api
+
+    # Check that the attribute exists and is set to False
+    enable_external_forces_attr = physx_scene_api.GetEnableExternalForcesEveryIterationAttr()
+    assert enable_external_forces_attr.IsValid()
+    assert enable_external_forces_attr.Get() is False
+
+
+@pytest.mark.isaacsim_ci
+def test_enable_external_forces_every_iteration_true():
+    """Test that enable_external_forces_every_iteration can be set to True."""
+    from pxr import PhysxSchema
+
+    # Test with enable_external_forces_every_iteration set to True
+    cfg = SimulationCfg()
+    cfg.physx.enable_external_forces_every_iteration = True
+
+    sim = SimulationContext(cfg)
+
+    # Get the physics scene API and check the attribute
+    stage = sim.stage
+    physics_scene_prim = stage.GetPrimAtPath(cfg.physics_prim_path)
+    assert physics_scene_prim.IsValid()
+
+    physx_scene_api = PhysxSchema.PhysxSceneAPI(physics_scene_prim)
+    assert physx_scene_api
+
+    # Check that the attribute exists and is set to True
+    enable_external_forces_attr = physx_scene_api.GetEnableExternalForcesEveryIterationAttr()
+    assert enable_external_forces_attr.IsValid()
+    assert enable_external_forces_attr.Get() is True