Cutting / Stitching a Deformable Body

Omniverse Isaac Sim
,
1

Isaac Sim Version

[tick] 4.5.0
4.2.0
4.1.0
4.0.0
4.5.0
2023.1.1
2023.1.0-hotfix.1
Other (please specify):

Operating System

Ubuntu 22.04
Ubuntu 20.04
Windows 11
[tick] Windows 10
Other (please specify):

GPU Information

  • Model: RTX 4070 Ti Super
  • Driver Version: 576.52

Topic Description

Detailed Description

Hi. I am trying to implement a deformable body or cloth which I can stitch using a Robot with a needle. So i wanted to ask if it is possible to do such a task where I can create a deformable body which i cut freely without specifying attachments and also stitch them back together with some sort of thread (I’m thinking of using fabric for this one and playing with the parameters until i get it right).
The main problem is being able to cut it.

Additional Context

The task can be similar to doing this sort of thing but in simulation. However the actual task is much more simplar that this.

3

Hi @imadomar2005 thanks for your question! Cutting deformables at arbitrary points is not supported in IsaacSim.

It may be possible to simulate something similar by creating a long articulate chain to approximate a cloth mesh (i.e. many rods connected by universal joints) and have a script that disables joints that are being “cut”, perhaps based on some measure of proximity to the cutting tool. Stitching may also be possible by threading a rope through the mesh holes. However, this would all likely be quite challenging in IsaacSim and require significant custom implementation.

There is some existing work on cutting deformables (see https://arxiv.org/pdf/2105.12244), however even in the work linked the cutting plane was pre-defined.

4

But I’m not sure that during stitching on how to deal with the puncturing of the fabric and then being able to put to together with the thread as “knits”. I guess i can predefine the cutting points of the fabric as joints and it can kind of act like the cloth being cut but in this case i might have to predefine the needle puncturing points too. I’m not sure if setting up a joint between every particle to simulate as an arbitary fabric would be compute efficient or even possible

5

Hi @imadomar2005 , apologies for the delayed response. As of now, the approximation of a cloth mesh as many rods connected by universal joints and then disabling the correct joints when the needle is within a certain threshold is currently how we’d recommend approximating this behavior.

1 Like
6

Hello!

We noticed that this topic hasn’t received any recent responses, so we are closing it for now to help keep the forum organized.

If you’re still experiencing this issue or have additional questions, please feel free to create a new topic with updated details. When doing so, we recommend mentioning or linking to this original topic in your new post—this helps provide context and makes it easier for others to assist you.

Thank you for being part of the NVIDIA Isaac Sim community.

Best regards,
The NVIDIA Isaac Sim Forum Team