isaac-sim-ros2-bridge

Apps & Automation

Setting up and using the ROS 2 Bridge in Isaac Sim 6.0 (Kit 110) for publishing and subscribing to ROS 2 topics from simulation. Covers bridge architecture, OmniGraph node setup for sensors/commands, Nav2 integration, and multi-robot namespacing. Use when: connecting Isaac Sim to ROS 2, publishing sensor data (camera, LiDAR, odometry) from simulation to ROS 2, subscribing to robot commands from Nav2 or other ROS 2 nodes, or setting up multi-robot namespaced ROS 2 communication in simulation. Triggers on: ROS 2 bridge, OmniGraph ROS2, Nav2 Isaac Sim, isaacsim.ros2.bridge, ROS2PublishLaserScan, cmd_vel subscribe, multi-robot namespace ROS2.

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Isaac Sim ROS 2 Bridge

Architecture

The ROS 2 Bridge in Isaac Sim 6.0 is extension-based (isaacsim.ros2.bridge) and built on OmniGraph action graphs. Publishers, subscribers, and services are only active when play is pressed.

Extension Stack

Extension	Purpose
`isaacsim.ros2.core`	Backend libraries, settings, lightweight ROS 2 libs
`isaacsim.ros2.nodes`	OmniGraph nodes for topics/services
`isaacsim.ros2.bridge`	Top-level bridge extension (enables all)
`isaacsim.ros2.tf_viewer`	TF tree visualization
`isaacsim.ros2.urdf`	URDF import with ROS 2 conventions
`isaacsim.ros2.examples`	Sample scenes (Nova Carter, iw_hub, hospital, office)
`isaacsim.ros2.sim_control`	Simulation control via ROS 2 services

Prerequisites

No manual setup is required for the default workflow. When isaacsim.ros2.core starts, it reads ROS_DISTRO; if unset, it falls back to the lightweight ROS 2 libs bundled inside the extension and sets internal_lib_fallback=True. The isaac-sim.sh / python.sh launchers auto-source setup_ros_env.sh, which exports ROS_DISTRO, RMW_IMPLEMENTATION, and LD_LIBRARY_PATH for the bundled libs before the process starts.

Source a system ROS 2 install (/opt/ros/<distro>/setup.bash) in the parent shell only when you need message types or RMW implementations not provided by the bundled libs. On Linux, LD_LIBRARY_PATH must be set in the parent shell (the dynamic linker reads it at process start), which is why this step is shell-sourced and not handled by the extension at runtime.

Pass --no-ros-env to bypass the auto-sourcing; in that case the parent shell must provide a working ROS 2 environment.

[Code: scripts/prerequisites.sh]

OmniGraph ROS 2 Nodes

All ROS 2 communication is configured through OmniGraph action graphs. Key node types:

Publishers

Node Type	Topic Type	Use Case
`ROS2PublishClock`	`rosgraph_msgs/Clock`	Sim time sync
`ROS2PublishJointState`	`sensor_msgs/JointState`	Joint positions/velocities
`ROS2PublishOdometry`	`nav_msgs/Odometry`	Robot odometry
`ROS2PublishLaserScan`	`sensor_msgs/LaserScan`	Lidar data
`ROS2PublishImage`	`sensor_msgs/Image`	Camera RGB/depth
`ROS2PublishCameraInfo`	`sensor_msgs/CameraInfo`	Camera intrinsics
`ROS2PublishTransformTree`	`tf2_msgs/TFMessage`	TF frames
`ROS2PublishSemanticLabels`	`std_msgs/String`	Semantic segmentation labels
`ROS2PublishPointCloud`	`sensor_msgs/PointCloud2`	Lidar/depth point clouds
`ROS2PublishImu`	`sensor_msgs/Imu`	IMU data

Subscribers

Node Type	Topic Type	Use Case
`ROS2SubscribeJointState`	`sensor_msgs/JointState`	Joint commands
`ROS2SubscribeTwist`	`geometry_msgs/Twist`	Velocity commands (cmd_vel)
`ROS2SubscribeAckermannDrive`	`ackermann_msgs/AckermannDriveStamped`	Ackermann steering commands

Generic / extra

Node Type	Use case
`ROS2Publisher` / `ROS2Subscriber`	generic publish/subscribe for arbitrary message types
`ROS2PublishBoundingBox2D` / `ROS2PublishBoundingBox3D`	annotator output to ROS 2
`ROS2PublishRgbd`	combined RGB+D publishing
`ROS2PublishSemanticSegmentation` / `ROS2PublishInstanceSegmentation`	segmentation outputs

Setting Up a ROS 2 Bridge Graph (Python)

The repo ships a canonical reference for building a ROS 2 publishing action graph with og.Controller.edit(...), including connecting OnPlaybackTick to publisher nodes, wiring IsaacReadSimulationTime into a ROS2PublishClock, and creating a matching rclpy subscriber inside the same script.

Reference example: source/standalone_examples/api/isaacsim.ros2.bridge/clock.py

When extending this pattern, use the current isaacsim.ros2.bridge.ROS2Publish* / ROS2Subscribe* node names (the legacy omni.isaac.ros2_bridge.* namespace is deprecated and will not load on Kit 110).

Migration: see Migrating ROS 2 OmniGraph nodes for the node-by-node rename map, and Renaming Extensions for the broader omni.isaac.* → isaacsim.* mapping.

Multi-Robot Namespacing

For multi-robot scenes, each robot needs its own namespace for ROS 2 topics. The repo's multi-robot scenario (Carter on hospital/office) demonstrates the manual loading + per-robot setup pattern; scripts/multi_robot_namespacing.py in this skill provides the per-robot graph factory with namespaced odom / TF / cmd_vel.

Scenario reference: source/standalone_examples/api/isaacsim.ros2.bridge/carter_multiple_robot_navigation.py
Per-robot graph factory: scripts/multi_robot_namespacing.py

Nav2 Integration

To use Nav2 with Isaac Sim ROS 2 Bridge:

Publish required topics: /odom, /tf, /scan (or /pointcloud), /joint_states
Subscribe to: /cmd_vel
Publish sim clock on /clock and set use_sim_time: true in Nav2 params

Known Issues (Isaac Sim 6.0 rc.22)

ROS 2 bridge only activates on timeline.play() — topics are not published in stopped state
Camera publishers require camera prims to have render products attached
TF tree can become inconsistent if robot prim paths change at runtime
Bundled ROS 2 libs may lack message types needed for custom topics — source a system ROS 2 install in the parent shell before launching Isaac Sim

Sample Scenes

Pre-built example USD files (from isaacsim.ros2.examples):

Scene	Path	Description
Nova Carter Navigation	`/Isaac/Samples/ROS2/Scenario/carter_warehouse_navigation.usd`	Single robot Nav2
Nova Carter Joint States	`/Isaac/Samples/ROS2/Scenario/carter_warehouse_navigation_joint_states.usd`	With joint state publishing
iw_hub Navigation	`/Isaac/Samples/ROS2/Scenario/iw_hub_warehouse_navigation.usd`	iw_hub AMR
Multi-Robot Navigation	ROS2/Navigation/Multiple Robots category	Fleet Nav2
Hospital Scene	`/Isaac/Samples/ROS2/Scenario/hospital_scene.usd`	Perceptor + hospital
Office Scene	`/Isaac/Samples/ROS2/Scenario/office_scene.usd`	Office navigation