Environment Design

IsaacLab Arena environment contains the main components used to create a manager-based RL environment. This includes the embodiment, scene, task and teleop device.

Core Architecture

@configclass
class IsaacLabArenaEnvironment:
    name: str = MISSING
    embodiment: EmbodimentBase = MISSING
    scene: Scene = MISSING
    task: TaskBase = MISSING
    teleop_device: TeleopDeviceBase | None = None

class ArenaEnvBuilder:
    """Compose IsaacLab Arena → Isaac Lab configs."""
    def compose_manager_cfg(self) -> IsaacLabArenaManagerBasedRLEnvCfg:
        # Combine configurations from all components
        scene_cfg = combine_configclass_instances(...)
        observation_cfg = self.arena_env.embodiment.get_observation_cfg()
        actions_cfg = self.arena_env.embodiment.get_action_cfg()

Each component contributes to the final environment configuration, with automatic integration handled by the environment builder.

Creating an Environment Example

# Component creation
embodiment = asset_registry.get_asset_by_name("franka")()
background = asset_registry.get_asset_by_name("kitchen")()
pick_object = asset_registry.get_asset_by_name("cracker_box")()
pick_object.set_initial_pose(Pose(position_xyz=(0.4, 0.0, 0.1)))

# Environment composition
scene = Scene(assets=[background, pick_object])
task = PickAndPlaceTask(pick_object, destination, background)

arena_environment = IsaacLabArenaEnvironment(
    name="manipulation_task",
    embodiment=embodiment,
    scene=scene,
    task=task,
    teleop_device=None
)

# Build and execute
env_builder = ArenaEnvBuilder(arena_environment, args)
env = env_builder.make_registered()

To see how the manager-based RL environment configuration is compiled, please refer to the Environment Compilation Design page.