SO-ARM101 Teleop (Isaac Sim + Isaac Lab)

Minimal, self-contained teleoperation stack for SO-ARM101 using Isaac Sim 5.1.0 and Isaac Lab 2.3.0. This repo vendors only the SO-ARM101 URDF + meshes and provides a simple joint-space teleop script.

Layout

• src/soarm_sim/robots/so_arm101/urdf includes the SO-ARM101 URDF and meshes.
• src/soarm_sim/robots/so_arm101/so_arm101_cfg.py defines the robot articulation.
• src/soarm_sim/tasks/teleop/teleop_env_cfg.py defines a minimal scene (table + robot + light).
• src/soarm_sim/scripts/teleop.py provides keyboard teleop in joint space.

Docker (Vast.ai / GPU)

We build on top of the working Isaac Sim 5.1.0 image, then install Isaac Lab 2.3.0 + our code using uv.

1. Choose the base image tag that works on your Vast.ai machine:

export ISAACSIM_BASE_IMAGE=nvcr.io/nvidia/isaac-sim:5.1.0

2. Build and run:

docker compose build
docker compose up -d

3. Enter the container:

docker compose exec soarm-sim bash

4. Run teleop:

uv run teleop --mode joint --device keyboard
uv run teleop --device keyboard

X11 (recommended for you)

Make sure X11 forwarding is allowed on the host. Example:

xhost +local:root

The compose file mounts /tmp/.X11-unix and passes DISPLAY.

Teleop Controls

Joint mode

Keys set joint velocity commands; release stops movement.

• W/S: shoulder_pan +/-
• E/D: shoulder_lift +/-
• R/F: elbow_flex +/-
• T/G: wrist_flex +/-
• Y/H: wrist_roll +/-
• O: toggle gripper open/close

Notes

• Isaac Lab runs inside Isaac Sim's Python environment. That is why the runtime image must be based on an Isaac Sim image.
• The dev container is intentionally minimal and does not include Isaac Lab or Isaac Sim.