Isaac Gym Environments for Mini Cheetah

This repository provides the environment used to train the Mini Cheetah (and other robots) to walk on rough terrain using NVIDIA's Isaac Gym. It includes all components needed for sim-to-real transfer: actuator network, friction & mass randomization, noisy observations and random pushes during training.

This environment is built on the legged gym environment by Nikita Rudin, Robotic Systems Lab, ETH Zurich. (Project website: https://leggedrobotics.github.io/legged_gym/ Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2109.11978)

Installation

1. Create a new python virtual env with python 3.6, 3.7 or 3.8 (3.8 recommended)
2. Install pytorch 1.10 with cuda-11.3:
   • pip3 install torch==1.10.0+cu113 torchvision==0.11.1+cu113 torchaudio==0.10.0+cu113 -f https://download.pytorch.org/whl/cu113/torch_stable.html
3. Install Isaac Gym
   • Download and install Isaac Gym Preview 3 (Preview 2 will not work!) from https://developer.nvidia.com/isaac-gym
   • cd isaacgym_lib/python && pip install -e .
   • Try running an example python examples/1080_balls_of_solitude.py
   • For troubleshooting check docs isaacgym/docs/index.html)
4. Install rsl_rl (PPO implementation)
   • Clone https://github.com/leggedrobotics/rsl_rl
   • cd rsl_rl && git checkout develop && pip install -e .
5. Install legged_gym
   • Clone this repository
   • cd legged_gym && git checkout develop && pip install -e .

CODE STRUCTURE

1. Each environment is defined by an env file (legged_robot.py) and a config file (legged_robot_config.py). The config file contains two classes: one conatianing all the environment parameters (LeggedRobotCfg) and one for the training parameters (LeggedRobotCfgPPo).
2. Both env and config classes use inheritance.
3. Each non-zero reward scale specified in cfg will add a function with a corresponding name to the list of elements which will be summed to get the total reward.
4. Tasks must be registered using task_registry.register(name, EnvClass, EnvConfig, TrainConfig). This is done in envs/__init__.py, but can also be done from outside of this repository.

Usage

1. Train:
   python legged_gym/scripts/train.py --task=mini_cheetah_rough
   • To run on CPU add following arguments: --sim_device=cpu, --rl_device=cpu (sim on CPU and rl on GPU is possible).
   • To run headless (no rendering) add --headless.
   • Important: To improve performance, once the training starts press v to stop the rendering. You can then enable it later to check the progress.
   • The trained policy is saved in issacgym_anymal/logs/<experiment_name>/<date_time>_<run_name>/model_<iteration>.pt. Where <experiment_name> and <run_name> are defined in the train config.
   • The following command line arguments override the values set in the config files:
   • --task TASK: Task name.
   • --resume: Resume training from a checkpoint
   • --experiment_name EXPERIMENT_NAME: Name of the experiment to run or load.
   • --run_name RUN_NAME: Name of the run.
   • --load_run LOAD_RUN: Name of the run to load when resume=True. If -1: will load the last run.
   • --checkpoint CHECKPOINT: Saved model checkpoint number. If -1: will load the last checkpoint.
   • --num_envs NUM_ENVS: Number of environments to create.
   • --seed SEED: Random seed.
   • --max_iterations MAX_ITERATIONS: Maximum number of training iterations.
2. Play a trained policy:
   python legged_gym/scripts/play.py --task=mini_cheetah_rough
   • By default the loaded policy is the last model of the last run of the experiment folder.
   • Other runs/model iteration can be selected by setting load_run and checkpoint in the train config.

Adding a new environment

The base environment legged_robot implements a rough terrain locomotion task. The corresponding cfg does not specify a robot asset (URDF/ MJCF) and no reward scales.

1. Add a new folder to envs/ with '<your_env>_config.py, which inherit from an existing environment cfgs
2. If adding a new robot:
   • Add the corresponding assets to resourses/.
   • In cfg set the asset path, define body names, default_joint_positions and PD gains. Specify the desired train_cfg and the name of the environment (python class).
   • In train_cfg set experiment_name and run_name
3. (If needed) implement your environment in <your_env>.py, inherit from an existing environment, overwrite the desired functions and/or add your reward functions.
4. Register your env in legged_gym/envs/__init__.py.
5. Modify/Tune other parameters in your cfg, cfg_train as needed. To remove a reward set its scale to zero. Do not modify parameters of other envs!

Troubleshooting

1. If you get the following error: ImportError: libpython3.8m.so.1.0: cannot open shared object file: No such file or directory, do: sudo apt install libpython3.8

Known Issues

1. The contact forces reported by net_contact_force_tensor are unreliable when simulating on GPU with a triangle mesh terrain. A workaround is to use force sensors, but the force are propagated through the sensors of consecutive bodies resulting in an undesireable behaviour. However, for a legged robot it is possible to add sensors to the feet/end effector only and get the expected results. When using the force sensors make sure to exclude gravity from trhe reported forces with sensor_options.enable_forward_dynamics_forces. Example:

    sensor_pose = gymapi.Transform()
    for name in feet_names:
        sensor_options = gymapi.ForceSensorProperties()
        sensor_options.enable_forward_dynamics_forces = False # for example gravity
        sensor_options.enable_constraint_solver_forces = True # for example contacts
        sensor_options.use_world_frame = True # report forces in world frame (easier to get vertical components)
        index = self.gym.find_asset_rigid_body_index(robot_asset, name)
        self.gym.create_asset_force_sensor(robot_asset, index, sensor_pose, sensor_options)
    (...)

    sensor_tensor = self.gym.acquire_force_sensor_tensor(self.sim)
    self.gym.refresh_force_sensor_tensor(self.sim)
    force_sensor_readings = gymtorch.wrap_tensor(sensor_tensor)
    self.sensor_forces = force_sensor_readings.view(self.num_envs, 4, 6)[..., :3]
    (...)

    self.gym.refresh_force_sensor_tensor(self.sim)
    contact = self.sensor_forces[:, :, 2] > 1.