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[isaacsim.sensors.physics.nodes] Isaac Sim Physics Sensor OmniGraph Nodes#

Version: 1.5.2

Overview#

The isaacsim.sensors.physics.nodes extension provides OmniGraph nodes for reading physics-based sensor data in Isaac Sim. The extension offers four specialized sensor reader nodes that integrate with Isaac Sim’s physics simulation to output real-time sensor measurements for robotics applications.

Key Components#

IsaacReadIMU Node#

The IsaacReadIMU node reads data from IsaacImuSensor prims to output inertial measurement data. It provides linear acceleration, angular velocity, and orientation measurements with configurable gravity inclusion.

Inputs:

  • imuPrim: Target IMU sensor prim path

  • readGravity: Whether to include gravity in acceleration readings

  • useLatestData: Use most recent sensor data available

  • execIn: Execution trigger

Outputs:

  • linAcc: Linear acceleration measurements

  • angVel: Angular velocity measurements

  • orientation: Sensor orientation

  • sensorTime: Timestamp of sensor reading

  • execOut: Execution signal

IsaacReadContactSensor Node#

The IsaacReadContactSensor node monitors contact events and force measurements from IsaacContactSensor prims. It outputs both contact state and force magnitude data.

Inputs:

  • csPrim: Target contact sensor prim path

  • useLatestData: Use most recent sensor data available

  • execIn: Execution trigger

Outputs:

  • inContact: Boolean contact state

  • value: Contact force magnitude

  • sensorTime: Timestamp of sensor reading

  • execOut: Execution signal

IsaacReadEffortSensor Node#

The IsaacReadEffortSensor node measures joint effort (torque/force) from articulated bodies. It provides configurable sensor periods and can be enabled/disabled dynamically.

Inputs:

  • prim: Target articulated body prim path

  • enabled: Enable/disable sensor readings

  • sensorPeriod: Sensor measurement frequency

  • useLatestData: Use most recent sensor data available

  • execIn: Execution trigger

Outputs:

  • value: Joint effort measurements

  • sensorTime: Timestamp of sensor reading

  • execOut: Execution signal

IsaacReadJointState Node#

The IsaacReadJointState node reads full joint state from an articulation: joint names, positions, velocities, efforts, per-DOF types, and stage units. It uses the joint state sensor backend from isaacsim.sensors.experimental.physics.

Inputs:

  • prim: Path to the articulation root prim

  • execIn: Execution trigger

Outputs:

  • jointNames: Joint names in articulation order

  • jointPositions: Joint positions (rad or m)

  • jointVelocities: Joint velocities (rad/s or m/s)

  • jointEfforts: Joint efforts (Nm or N)

  • jointDofTypes: Per-DOF type (0 = revolute, 1 = prismatic)

  • stageMetersPerUnit: Stage meters per USD unit for SI conversion

  • sensorTime: Timestamp of the sensor reading

  • execOut: Execution signal

Functionality#

Each sensor node maintains internal state through dedicated state classes that inherit from BaseResetNode, providing automatic reset handling when simulation parameters change. The nodes use a compute-based execution model where sensor data is read and output attributes are updated each time the node executes.

All nodes support both latest data mode and historical data access, allowing flexibility in how sensor information is consumed by downstream graph nodes. Sensor initialization occurs during the first compute cycle, with error handling for invalid prim paths or sensor configurations.

C++ Plugin#

The sensor reader nodes are implemented in C++ as a Carbonite plugin (isaacsim::sensors::physics::nodes::IPhysicsSensorNodes). The native plugin registers the OGN nodes at startup and provides the compute implementations for reading IMU, contact sensor, effort sensor, and joint state data directly from the physics simulation. Python bindings expose the IPhysicsSensorNodes interface through the _physics_sensor_nodes module for plugin lifecycle management.

Relationships#

The extension depends on isaacsim.sensors.experimental.physics for the underlying sensor backend implementations. Each OmniGraph node acts as a bridge between the physics sensor systems and the visual scripting environment, enabling sensor data to flow through OmniGraph workflows for robotics applications and automation tasks.

Preview

Enable Extension#

The extension can be enabled (if not already) in one of the following ways:

Define the next entry as an application argument from a terminal.

APP_SCRIPT.(sh|bat) --enable isaacsim.sensors.physics.nodes

Define the next entry under [dependencies] in an experience (.kit) file or an extension configuration (extension.toml) file.

[dependencies]
"isaacsim.sensors.physics.nodes" = {}

Open the Window > Extensions menu in a running application instance and search for isaacsim.sensors.physics.nodes. Then, toggle the enable control button if it is not already active.

Omnigraph Nodes#

The extension exposes the following Omnigraph nodes: