Installation using Binaries

URBAN-SIM requires Isaac Sim. This tutorial installs Isaac Sim first from binaries, then URBAN-SIM from source code.

Installing Isaac Sim

Downloading pre-built binaries

Please follow the Isaac Sim documentation to install the latest Isaac Sim release.

From Isaac Sim 4.5 release, Isaac Sim binaries can be downloaded directly as a zip file.

To check the minimum system requirements, refer to the documentation here.

Linux

Note

We have tested Isaac Lab with Isaac Sim 4.5 release on Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with NVIDIA driver 535.230 on NVIDIA 4080 Super, 4090 and L40S.

From Isaac Sim 4.5 release, Isaac Sim binaries can be downloaded directly as a zip file. The below steps assume the Isaac Sim folder was unzipped to the ${HOME}/isaacsim directory.

On Linux systems, Isaac Sim directory will be named ${HOME}/isaacsim.

Verifying the Isaac Sim installation

To avoid the overhead of finding and locating the Isaac Sim installation directory every time, we recommend exporting the following environment variables to your terminal for the remaining of the installation instructions:

Linux

# Isaac Sim root directory
export ISAACSIM_PATH="${HOME}/isaacsim"
# Isaac Sim python executable
export ISAACSIM_PYTHON_EXE="${ISAACSIM_PATH}/python.sh"

For more information on common paths, please check the Isaac Sim documentation.

• Check that the simulator runs as expected:

  Linux

  # note: you can pass the argument "--help" to see all arguments possible.
  ${ISAACSIM_PATH}/isaac-sim.sh
  

• Check that the simulator runs from a standalone python script:

  Linux

  # checks that python path is set correctly
  ${ISAACSIM_PYTHON_EXE} -c "print('Isaac Sim configuration is now complete.')"
  # checks that Isaac Sim can be launched from python
  ${ISAACSIM_PYTHON_EXE} ${ISAACSIM_PATH}/standalone_examples/api/isaacsim.core.api/add_cubes.py
  

If the simulator does not run or crashes while following the above instructions, it means that something is incorrectly configured. To debug and troubleshoot, please check Isaac Sim documentation and the forums.

Note

If you meet the error ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'xxx', ensure that the conda environment is activated and use source _isaac_sim/setup_conda_env.sh to set up the conda environment.

Installing URBAN-SIM

Cloning URBAN-SIM

Clone the URBAN-SIM repository into your workspace:

HTTPS

git clone -b main --depth 1 https://github.com/metadriverse/urban-sim.git

Note

We provide a helper executable urbansim.sh that provides utilities to manage extensions:

Linux

./urbansim.sh --help

usage: urbansim.sh [-h] [-i] [-v] [-c] [-a] -- Utility to manage URBAN-SIM.

optional arguments:
    -h, --help           Display the help content.
    -i, --install        Install the extensions inside URBAN-SIM and learning frameworks as extra dependencies.
    -v, --vscode         Generate the VSCode settings file from template.
    -c, --conda [NAME]   Create the conda environment for URBAN-SIM. Default name is 'urbansim'.
    -a, --advanced       Run the advanced command.

Creating the Isaac Sim Symbolic Link

Set up a symbolic link between the installed Isaac Sim root folder and _isaac_sim in the Isaac Lab directory. This makes it convenient to index the python modules and look for extensions shipped with Isaac Sim.

Linux

# enter the cloned repository
cd urban-sim
# create a symbolic link
ln -s ${HOME}/isaacsim ./_isaac_sim
# You can also use the absolute path instead of ${HOME}/isaacsim

Setting up the conda environment

Linux

bash urbansim.sh -c [env_name]  # The default name is "urbansim"

Once created, be sure to activate the environment before proceeding!

conda activate urbansim  # or "conda activate my_env"

Once you are in the virtual environment, you can use the default python executable in your environment by running python or python3.

Installation

Linux

./urbansim.sh --install # or "./urbansim.sh -i"
./urbansim.sh --advanced # or "./urbansim.sh -a"

Note

By default, the above will install all the learning frameworks. More specifically, –install will install the basic pipeline for random scenario generation, –advanced will install the full pipeline for scenario generation, including the learning frameworks and additional dependencies such as ORCA for pedestrian moving.