No "intanceable meshes" option in URDF importer

Omniverse Isaac Sim
1

Isaac Sim Version

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
Windows 10
Other (please specify):

GPU Information

  • Model: Laptop RTX 4090
  • Driver Version: 550.120

Topic Description

Detailed Description

Starting from Isaac sim 4.5 I noticed the URDF importer does not have the “instanceable meshes” option present. That option made it so that the meshes from the loaded URDF would be placed in a separate USD file and instantiated from the base one, keeping files clean and separate.

This was an advantage given you could have a clean, human-readable USDA file describing the structure of the robot and all the meshes definitions separate on another file. Going a step further, you could hand that meshes file to a designer without having to worry about the robot being broken, given that none of the structure would be modified.

My question is, why was this option removed when going from 4.2 to 4.5? Can it be added back? I think it’s of great value.

Steps to Reproduce

  1. Open Isaac sim 4.2 and enable the URDF importer extension. Open the extension window and notice the “create instanceable asset” check box. See image 1
  2. Open Isaac sim 4.5 and enable the URDF importer extension. Open the extension window and notice that the “create instanceable asset” option is no longer there, nor is there something similar. See image 2

Screenshots or Videos

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3 Likes
3

From 4.5.0, assets are created as instanceable by default so the window/option doesn’t appear. We will update the documentation accordingly. Thanks.

4

But all the meshes are still present in the main imported USD. You won’t get a separate “instanceable_meshes.usd” file like when ticking that option in 4.2.

The “getting a separate meshes file” in the functionality that I cared about, that way I can have clean, human-readable USDA files

6

Please refer to URDF Importer Extension — Isaac Sim Documentation to understand the imported structure.