Maintenance release

First, naming conventions has been reviewed over the whole C++ codebase to make sure they are grammatically correct and consistent. Secondly, return codes have been dropped in favour of throwing exception, which makes everything more readable and much more in line with Python.

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Revert 'crba' to ensure positive definite inertia matrix. (#709)
• [python/viewer] Fix video recording on Apple Silicon with meshcat. (#706)
• [python/viewer] Fix meshcat not properly terminated. (#715)
• [gym/common] Fix circular reference in 'BaseJiminyEnv' causing memory leak. (#715)

Miscellaneous

• [core] More consistent naming conventions. (#705)
• [core] Remove return codes and throw exceptions instead. (#713)
• [python] Get rid of unmaintained 'dm-tree' dependency. (#706)
• [misc] Update C++ dependencies to latest releases. (#713)

Enhanced random number generation

This release addresses a few long-standings issues that has been planned a while ago. First, ground profile heightmaps are now converted in collision geometry object and decimated if requested. This was a pre-requisite for generic collision detection. Next, each engine now owns its own local random number generator instead of relying on some hidden global state that was causing concurrency issues. In additional, a few bugs have been fixed here and there. Notably, force sensors are now only measuring contact forces acting on a given body rather then all external forces. It is the first release to partially support Python 3.12 (jiminy_py module).

New features

• [core] Faster random number generator (PCG32).
• [core] Faster sampling of random matrices (uniform and normal distributions) from any generator (including numpy).
• [core] Heightmap discretization now returns a geometry object and support decimation.
• [python/viewer] Implement ground rendering from meshcat.

Improvements

• [core] Get rid of global random state.
• [core] 'ForceSensor' measures only contact forces.
• [core] Passing wrong size to 'isPositionValid' does not trigger exception anymore.
• [core/python] Slightly faster functional controller by removing useless layer of indirection.
• [gym_jiminy/common] 'sample' utility now supports any custom distribution.

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Fix sensor delay computation.
• [core] Fix sensor measurements at start.
• [core] Fix broken PeriodicFourierProcess since 1.7.18.
• [python/viewer] Fix camera pose when travelling is enabled with panda3d.
• [gym_jiminy/common] Fix support of empty arrays for 'contains' space utility.

Miscellaneous

• [python/viewer] Detect Apple Silicon GPU to enable high-res shadow for panda3d.
• [misc] Add support of Python 3.12 for 'jiminy_py' module.

Maintenance release

As usual, many bugs have been fixed. Most of them are related to the viewer and a few others are related to the core engine but none are critical. It is supposed to be the latest 1.7.X release since breaking changes are planned.

New features

• [core] Add option to set baumgarte position and velocity gains separately. (#647)
• [python/viewer] Add async mode with panda3d backend. (#664)
• [python/viewer] Add support of torus and partial cylinder with panda3d. (#672)
• [gym/toolbox] More orientation conversion utils. (#430)
• [gym/zoo] Add 'digit' bipedal robot. (#430)

Improvements

• [core] Do not enforce configuration bounds at init for spring-damper contact model. (#654)
• [core] Rename 'FixedFrameConstraint' in 'FrameConstraint'. (#677)
• [core/python] Add partial support of 'pathlib.Path' objects. (#672)
• [python/robot] Improve default hardware file generation. (#430)
• [gym/common] PD controller block now support unbounded joints. (#430)
• [gym/toolbox] More generic vectorized (batched) SO3 utils. (#652)

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Fix inconsistent adaptive stepper error computation. (#647)
• [core] Fix rare edge-case causing segfault when setting options. (#647)
• [core] Fix inertia projection formula. (#649)
• [core] Fix serialization of geometry objects. (#430)
• [core] Fix exception when saving binary log file with empty variables. (#430)
• [core] Fix flexible from/to rigid config helpers. (#659)
• [core] Fix non-repeatable simulation due to partial hyteresis reset. (#662)
• [core] Fix wrong state and derivative during computation of extra terms. (#684)
• [core] Fix internal effort computation. (#684)
• [python/simulator] Fix exception when manually closing viewer. (#684)
• [python/plot] Fix minor plotting bugs. (#647)
• [python/viewer] Fix replay viewer exception for 1DoF systems using 'panda3d-sync'. (#648)
• [python/viewer] Fix viewer closing exception handling with panda3d backend. (#672)
• [python/viewer] Fix wrong anchor for cylinders and arrows with panda3d. (#672)
• [python/viewer] Fix some edge-cases with panda3d backend. (#673) (#675)
• [python/viewer] Fix memory leaks caused by 'atexit' registration. (#683)
• [python/viewer] Fix exception handling at init. (#684)
• [gym/common] Fix wrong frame name for default relative camera pose. (#430)

Miscellaneous

• [core] Refactor C++ project structure and modernize coding style. (#653) (#655) (#656) (#656) (#656) (#659) (#674) (#677) (#678) (#681) (#682) (#683)
• [misc] Apply clang format to the whole C++ codebase. (#651) (#656)
• [misc] Update all C++ dependencies. (#669) (#672)
• [misc] More robust boost python shared lib detection on MacOS. (#680)
• [misc] Enable back python stubs generation on OSX. (#680)
• [misc] More robust build script on unix systems. (#683)
• [misc] Fix documentation generation. (#647)
• [misc] Fix notebook tutorial. (#648)

Speed-up pipeline env and add useful blocks

This release aims at making pipeline environment more efficient and practical for training real robots using RL. In particular, highly-efficient pre- and post- processing wrappers have been added, including flattening and normalization of observations and actions. A pipeline env leveraging these new features on Atlas has a real time factor of 55 on a single core.

New features

• [gym_jiminy/common] Add 'build_map', 'build_reduce' generic utils for nested spaces. (#641)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add 'NormalizeObservation' and 'NormalizeAction' wrappers. (#639, #644)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add 'FlattenObservation' and 'FlattenAction' wrappers. (#644)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add 'FilterObservation' wrapper. (#639, #644)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add motor safety control block. (#639, #644)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Deal with twist estimate drift in Mahony Filter. (#645)

Improvements

• [core] Skip useless forward kinematics when updating telemetry. (#635)
• [core] Refactor telemetry sender to improve efficiency. (#635)
• [core] Monitor number of successive constraint solving failure. (#644)
• [core/python] Add optimized 'array_copyto' helper method. (#641)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Better handling of maximum simulation duration. (#621)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Speed-up env pipeline. (#632, #633, #634, #635, #641)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Improve motor to encoder handling in control blocks. (#635, #641)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add custom velocity limit to PID controller. (#637)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Refactor build pipeline to avoid dynamic class definition. (#637)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add internal block state to telemetry. (#639)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add tolerance to env obs contain check. (#639)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add option to MahonyFitler block to remove twist from estimate. (#644)

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Fix propagation of rotor inertia and command limit. (#621)
• [core] Fix Euler updating derivative at beginning instead of end of step. (#625)
• [core/python] Fix sensors map iterator __iter__. (#633)
• [core/python] Fix 'Robot.constraints' and 'JointConstraint.rotation_dir' accessors. (#637)
• [python/plot] Fix various visual glitches and improve layout. (#643)
• [python/viewer] Fix exception for negative sleep time. (#622)
• [gym_jiminy/rllib] Fix custom config handling. (#631)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Remove useless action buffer from ControllerBlock. (#635)

Miscellaneous

• [misc] Full support of Python 3.11 for MacOS. (#621)
• [misc] Fix embedded shared library optional loading. (#622)
• [misc] Update all C++ dependencies and move to C++17. (#631)
• [misc] Cleanup cmake instruction set propagation to pip c++ modules. (#637)
• [misc] Add support of CppADCodeGen. (#637)
• [misc] Enable numba cache for faster startup. (#641)

Env pipeline refactoring

The implementation of pipeline design for learning environments (block diagram paradigm) has been completely revamped to be more versatile and modular. In addition, it now induces almost no overhead thanks to a new zero-copy architecture. Following these changes, the existing PID control block has been greatly improved and a Mahony filter block estimating IMU orientations from measurements has been added. The pipeline for Atlas leveraging these feratures has a real time factor of 30 on a single core.

New features

• [core|python] Enable to register int64 to controller telemetry. (#616)
• [python/viewer] Support specifying relative camera pose in 'play_trajectories' method. (#608)
• [gym_jiminy/common] 'PIDController' action is now N-th order deriv. of target motors positions. (#616)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Full support of observer/controller internal state in pipelines. (#616)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Add Mahony filter pipeline block and activate it for all robotics envs. (#618)
• [gym_jiminy/toolbox] Add vectorized quat to rpy math utils. (#608)

Improvements

• [core] IMU sensors no longer measure quaternion directly. (#618)
• [core|python] More robust log loading. (#612)
• [python/log] More consistent custom mesh search path handling. (#613)
• [python/viewer] Exception handling when creating graphics pipe for panda3d. (#608)
• [python/viewer] Update floor tiling and skybox to look the same in meshcat and panda3d. (#616)
• [gym_jiminy/common] FrameRateLimiter only applies to 'human' render mode by default. (#614)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Refactor pipeline for consistency, versatility, and efficiency (zero-copy). (#618)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Automatically register pipeline observers features to jiminy telemetry. (#618)

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Fix SensorsDataMap without shared memory. (#616)
• [python] Fix memory leak due to circular reference.
• [python/simulator] Fix handling of extra keyword arguments in 'render' method. (#616)
• [python/viewer] Fault tolerance at init. (#608)
• [python/viewer] Fix default viewer robot name in Simulator. (#608)
• [python/viewer] Fix wrong camera rotation when relative to itself. (#616)
• [gym_jiminy/toolbox] Consistent in-out types in math utils. (#611)
• [gym_jiminy/rllib] Fix user-specified 'log_root_path' arg ignored by "initialize' method. (#607)
• [gym_jiminy/rllib] Fix exception in 'train' method when 'reward_threshold' not defined by env. (#607)
• [gym_jiminy/rllib] Fix 'PPO' init by reverting changes. (#609)
• [gym_jiminy/rllib] Fix 'evaluate_local_worker' for 'num_envs_per_worker' > 1. (#609)

Miscellaneous

• [core/python] Do not support 'np.matrix' anymore. (#618)
• [misc] Clarify TLMC specification. (#604)
• [misc] Add manual collision detection example script. (#608)
• [misc] Add TorchRL-based acrobot training example. (#615)
• [misc] Update pinocchio and hpp-fcl deps. (#608)
• [gym_jiminy/common] Migrate from 'gym<0.24' to 'gymnasium>=0.26,<0.29'. (#616)
• [gym_jiminy/rllib] Migrate from 'ray~=2.2.0' to 'ray~=2.5.0'. (#616)
• [misc] Full support of Python 3.11 on Linux. (#616)

Maintenance release

The main objective of this release was to upgrade all the dependencies (Python and C++) to the latest version, which has not been done since more than 1 year already. It comes with fully supporting of Python 3.10, initial support of 3.11 (no gym_jiminy), and dropping of Python<3.8. In addition, many bugs have been fixed. Most of them are related to the viewer, but some others are related to the core engine and are more critical. Finally, high quality type hints are now provided for the python bindings of jiminy core.

New features

• [core/python] Generate stubs (Python type hints) for jiminy_py including C++ core.
• [gym/common] Add framerate limiter wrapper.
• [gym/rllib] Full async training and evaluation with fail-safe replay and video recording.

Improvements

• [python/simulator] Raise exception when importing option file with unknown keys.
• [python/viewer] Add asynchronous replay then record utility.
• [python/viewer] Speed-up onscreen rendering for Panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Less aggressive and more distinctive default colors.
• [python|gym] Add option to overwrite default viewer arguments at instantiation.

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] 'getFrameIdx' now returns first frame with desired name available.
• [core] Fix viscoelastic force coupling.
• [core] Fix flexibility model internal force.
• [core] Fix wrong contact forces when continuously updating sensors but not controller.
• [core] Fix wrong computation of initial forces and accelerations if constraints are active.
• [core] Fix sign inconsistency between 'ContactSensor' and 'ForceSensor'.
• [core/python] No longer drop hresult return argument in bindings.
• [core/python] Fix raise exception when getting invalid sensor data.
• [python/plot] Improve support of tabbed figures in notebooks.
• [python/viewer] Fix panda3d hanging indefinitely in some cases.
• [python/viewer] Fix antialiasing causing black screen on some configs for panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Fix 'play_log_files' default args when no backend is running.
• [python/viewer] Fix backend not cleanly terminated on close for panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Fix viewer broken after keyboard interrupt during replay for panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Fix legend centering and scaling for panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Fix legend rendering failure in some cases for panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Fix edge-cases in backend selection during replay.
• [python/viewer] Fix start paused mode not working if no window already opened.
• [misc] Fix broken pip devel mode install with easy intall script.
• [misc] Fix compilation failure on gcc-12.

Miscellaneous

• [misc] Add full support of Python 3.10, partial support of 3.11 (no gym_jiminy).
• [misc] Drop support of Ubuntu 18.04 and Python<=3.8.
• [misc] Update all dependencies to latest version (Python, C++, ...).
• [misc] Improve compilation speed and reduce memory pressure on Windows OS.
• [misc] Fix memory alignment issues and enable AVX2 on Windows and Linux CI.
• [python/viewer] Migrate from deprecated 'pyppeteer' to 'playwright' for Meshcat.
• [gym/envs] Remove unused Spotmicro environment.

Maintenance release

This release fixes many bugs that has been introduced along the way. Notably, the discontinuity of the integration state and IMU measurements have been fixed, as well as the contact dynamics.

Improvements

• [core] Move Baumgarte Stabilization freq from constraint to contact to avoid affecting user-specified constraints.
• [core] Distance constraint reference now reset to current but can be updated.
• [core/python] More pythonic bindings for EngineMultiRobot. (#559)
• [core|python] Unify log reading/writing.
• [python/viewer] Add method to show/hide floor programmatically.

Patches and bug fixes

• [python/robot] More robust hardware config file parsing.
• [core] Fix sensor not properly initialized before calling reset at least once. (#550)
• [core] Fix segfault at start for multi-robot simulation.
• [core] Fix sensor not properly initialized before calling reset at least once.
• [core] Fix Viscoelastic coupling force computation. (#553)
• [core] Fix expose registered force profiles and impulses. (#557)
• [core] Fix bugs in creation of flexible model.
• [core] Fix integrate SE3 buggy in place.
• [core] Fix continuity of the quaternion of IMU sensors.
• [core] Fix constraints relying on wrong acceleration (classical not spatial).
• [core] Fix sphere and wheel constraints.
• [core/python] Fix 'forceCoupling_t::systemIdx1' expose typo.
• [python/robot] Fix exception creating robot with non-existing urdf.
• [python/simulator] Fix default plot 'block' argument.
• [python/simulator] Fix native python exception handling at start.
• [python/log] Fix creating robot from log on windows.
• [python/viewer] Fix handling of non-existing Jupyter server in notebook.
• [python/viewer] Fix exception when no collision bodies are specified.
• [gym/envs] Fix ANYmal env. (#561)
• [misc] Fix broken easy install dependencies.
• [misc] Fix optional dependencies issues.

Miscellaneous

• [core/python] Do not register converters if already existing.
• [core|python] Rename log processing helpers.
• [misc] Add more python example scripts.
• [misc] Relax numpy version requirement.
• [misc] Cmake config file now properly export dependencies.
• [misc] Fix cmake config file error when 'find_package' is called twice.

[python/viewer] Improve notebook support

Adding flexibility at fixed frame is now fully supported and the integration in notebooks have been greatly improved. The interactive viewer is now working much better, notably on Mybinder or Kaggle. As a fallback, a static video mode for notebooks has been added and is used preferably on google colab that is still working unreliably. Besides, meshes with texture are now loading properly in Meshcat.

40_flexibility_arm.mp4

New features

• [python/viewer] Load collada mesh with texture in Meshcat.
• [python/viewer] Add video replay in notebook as a fallback.

Improvements

• [core] Add rest length to directional coupling force.
• [python/viewer] Add option to resize video recordings.
• [python/viewer] Improve support of interactive mode in notebook.
• [core] Adding deformation point at frame no longer requires a valid URDF file.

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Backup URDF as string right when initializing the robot for persistence.
• [core] Force persistent log mode if no urdf associated with robot.
• [core] Check if acceleration is still valid after starting the simulation.
• [core] Fix serialization issue when importing pinocchio before jiminy.
• [core] Fix segfault when initializing motor with non-existing joint.
• [core] Fix wrong geometry parent joint and placement after adding flexibility.
• [core] Fix adding flexibility at frames at successive fixed frames.
• [core|python] Fix access and view of theoretical model.
• [python/viewer] Fix capsule shading in Meshcat.
• [python/viewer] Fix exception handling when closing viewer during replay.
• [python/viewer] Fix iopub msg rate limit in notebook.
• [misc] Fix video recording with panda3d for cpu-only machine.

Miscellaneous

• [python/viewer] Add watchdog mechanism to handle loss connections in notebook.
• [misc] Update all dependencies.
• [misc] 'torch' dependency is optional for gym_jiminy_toolbox.
• [misc] Add support of Python 3.10 except for gym_jiminy_rllib.
• [misc] Drop support of Python 3.6 and 3.7 on MacOS.

Hot fix

This release fixes a bunch of bugs mainly introduced by the previous one and extend the serialization to geometry models to support convex shapes.

Improvements

• [core] Add serialization of convex geometries.
• [python/viewer] Enhance lighting for panda3d.

Patches and bug fixes

• [core|python] Fix read/write of log files for HDF5 and CSV formats.
• [python/log] Fix deserialization of pinocchio models in log files with HDF5 format.
• [python/viewer] Fix flipped overlay for panda3d.
• [python/viewer] Fix update color and improve except handling for legend.
• [python/viewer] Fix loading of Convex geometries.
• [python/viewer] Fix shadows on floor if available with EGL driver for panda3d.

Miscellaneous

• [misc] Fix wheel deploy for gym jiminy.
• [misc] Fix gym jiminy inter-dependencies.

Portable log files

It is now possible to dump the whole robot (including visual and collision meshes) in log files. These standalone log files can be replayed on any system without requiring any extra file. It is convenient for sharing simulation results and safe long-term backups.

New features

• [core] Enable serialization of geometry models optionally.

Improvements

• [core] Refactor telemetry to support binary object dump as constant.
• [core] Simulation time unit is now fixed to 1e-10.
• [core] Add option to force loading visual meshes.
• [python/simulator] 'plot' is blocking by default if not interactive.
• [python/log] Build robot from logged models.
• [python/viewer] Fallback to loading geometry if path not available.
• [python/viewer] Add option to render markers on background.

Patches and bug fixes

• [core] Fix definition of time unit in log files.
• [core] Fix reading of binary log files.
• [core] Fix writing log with no data available.
• [python/plot] Fig figure sometimes rendered blank.
• [python/plot] Fix figure offscreen rendering.
• [misc] Fix python importlib usage.
• [misc] Fix crash if optional python deps are missing.

Miscellaneous

• [core] Use dynamic and non-contiguous memory for telemetry.
• [misc] Update easy install dependencies ahead of deployment.
• [misc] Refactor CI to test building extension from pip install.