fix(retargeters): guard against invalid controller grip poses in Se3 retargeters

A connected controller with pose tracking lost (e.g. resting on a table)
produces a present ControllerInput group with grip_is_valid=False and a
zero-norm grip orientation. Se3AbsRetargeter and Se3RelRetargeter fed
that quaternion straight to Rotation.from_quat, raising
'ValueError: Found zero norm quaternions' and killing the retargeting
pipeline (in pipelined mode the async retarget worker dies permanently,
forcing consumers into session teardown/restart loops).

Guard the controller branch with GRIP_IS_VALID, mirroring the hand
branch's joint_valid handling: Abs holds the last pose (same as the
is_none path); Rel emits a zero delta and re-arms the first-frame
baseline so the first valid frame after recovery does not jump.

Signed-off-by: Hougant Chen <hougantc@nvidia.com>

Author: hougantc-nvda

src/core/retargeting_engine_tests/python/test_se3_retargeter_pose_validity.py

@@ -0,0 +1,152 @@
+# SPDX-FileCopyrightText: Copyright (c) 2026 NVIDIA CORPORATION & AFFILIATES. All rights reserved.
+# SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
+
+"""
+Tests for controller pose validity handling in the Se3 retargeters.
+
+A connected controller can report an invalid grip pose (e.g. resting on a
+table with pose tracking lost): the ControllerInput group is present (not
+``is_none``) but ``grip_is_valid`` is False and the orientation is a
+zero-norm quaternion. Regression: Se3AbsRetargeter/Se3RelRetargeter used to
+feed that quaternion to ``Rotation.from_quat``, raising
+``ValueError: Found zero norm quaternions in `quat`.`` and killing the
+retargeting pipeline.
+"""
+
+import numpy as np
+import numpy.testing as npt
+import pytest
+
+from isaacteleop.retargeting_engine.interface import (
+    ComputeContext,
+    ExecutionEvents,
+    ExecutionState,
+    OptionalTensorGroup,
+    TensorGroup,
+)
+from isaacteleop.retargeting_engine.interface.retargeter_core_types import GraphTime
+from isaacteleop.retargeting_engine.interface.tensor_group_type import (
+    OptionalTensorGroupType,
+)
+from isaacteleop.retargeting_engine.tensor_types import ControllerInputIndex
+
+from isaacteleop.retargeters import (
+    Se3AbsRetargeter,
+    Se3RelRetargeter,
+    Se3RetargeterConfig,
+)
+
+_DEVICE = "controller_right"
+
+
+def _make_context() -> ComputeContext:
+    return ComputeContext(
+        graph_time=GraphTime(sim_time_ns=0, real_time_ns=0),
+        execution_events=ExecutionEvents(
+            reset=False, execution_state=ExecutionState.RUNNING
+        ),
+    )
+
+
+def _build_io(retargeter):
+    """Build inputs/outputs for a retargeter, using OptionalTensorGroup for optional specs."""
+    inputs = {}
+    for k, v in retargeter.input_spec().items():
+        if isinstance(v, OptionalTensorGroupType):
+            inputs[k] = OptionalTensorGroup(v)
+        else:
+            inputs[k] = TensorGroup(v)
+    outputs = {}
+    for k, v in retargeter.output_spec().items():
+        if isinstance(v, OptionalTensorGroupType):
+            outputs[k] = OptionalTensorGroup(v)
+        else:
+            outputs[k] = TensorGroup(v)
+    return inputs, outputs
+
+
+def _fill_controller(group, *, grip_valid: bool, position=(0.0, 0.0, 0.0)) -> None:
+    """Populate a present ControllerInput group.
+
+    When *grip_valid* is False the orientation is the zero-norm quaternion a
+    real ControllersSource emits for a connected controller whose pose
+    tracking is lost.
+    """
+    orientation = (
+        np.array([0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0], dtype=np.float32)
+        if grip_valid
+        else np.zeros(4, dtype=np.float32)
+    )
+    group[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_POSITION] = np.asarray(position, dtype=np.float32)
+    group[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_ORIENTATION] = orientation
+    group[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_IS_VALID] = grip_valid
+
+
+class TestSe3AbsRetargeterPoseValidity:
+    @pytest.fixture()
+    def retargeter(self):
+        cfg = Se3RetargeterConfig(input_device=_DEVICE)
+        return Se3AbsRetargeter(cfg, name="se3abs")
+
+    def test_invalid_grip_holds_last_pose(self, retargeter):
+        """Present-but-invalid grip must not raise and must hold the last pose."""
+        inputs, outputs = _build_io(retargeter)
+        stale = np.array([1.0, 2.0, 3.0, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5, 0.5], dtype=np.float32)
+        retargeter._last_pose = stale.copy()
+
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=False)
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        pose = np.from_dlpack(outputs["ee_pose"][0])
+        npt.assert_array_almost_equal(pose, stale)
+
+    def test_valid_grip_after_invalid_resumes(self, retargeter):
+        """Retargeting must resume normally once the grip pose is valid again."""
+        inputs, outputs = _build_io(retargeter)
+
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=False)
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=True, position=(0.1, 0.2, 0.3))
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        pose = np.from_dlpack(outputs["ee_pose"][0])
+        npt.assert_array_almost_equal(pose[:3], [0.1, 0.2, 0.3])
+
+
+class TestSe3RelRetargeterPoseValidity:
+    @pytest.fixture()
+    def retargeter(self):
+        cfg = Se3RetargeterConfig(input_device=_DEVICE)
+        return Se3RelRetargeter(cfg, name="se3rel")
+
+    def test_invalid_grip_emits_zero_delta(self, retargeter):
+        """Present-but-invalid grip must not raise and must emit a zero delta."""
+        inputs, outputs = _build_io(retargeter)
+
+        # Establish a baseline with a valid frame first.
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=True)
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=False)
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        delta = np.from_dlpack(outputs["ee_delta"][0])
+        npt.assert_array_almost_equal(delta, np.zeros(6))
+
+    def test_recovery_rebaselines_without_jump(self, retargeter):
+        """The first valid frame after an invalid stretch must not emit a jump."""
+        inputs, outputs = _build_io(retargeter)
+
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=True)
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=False)
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        # Controller re-tracks far from the pre-loss baseline.
+        _fill_controller(inputs[_DEVICE], grip_valid=True, position=(1.0, 1.0, 1.0))
+        retargeter.compute(inputs, outputs, _make_context())
+
+        delta = np.from_dlpack(outputs["ee_delta"][0])
+        npt.assert_array_almost_equal(delta, np.zeros(6))

src/retargeters/se3_retargeter.py

@@ -249,6 +249,13 @@ def _compute_fn(self, inputs: RetargeterIO, outputs: RetargeterIO, context) -> N
                     ]
                 )
         else:
+            # A connected controller can report an invalid grip pose (e.g. at
+            # rest with pose tracking lost) whose zero-norm orientation
+            # Rotation.from_quat rejects. Hold the last pose, matching the
+            # is_none path and the hand branch's joint_valid handling.
+            if not bool(inp[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_IS_VALID]):
+                ee_pose[0] = self._last_pose
+                return
             grip_pos = np.from_dlpack(inp[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_POSITION])
             grip_ori = np.from_dlpack(
                 inp[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_ORIENTATION]
@@ -384,6 +391,14 @@ def _compute_fn(self, inputs: RetargeterIO, outputs: RetargeterIO, context) -> N
                 ]
             )
         else:
+            # A connected controller can report an invalid grip pose (e.g. at
+            # rest with pose tracking lost) whose zero-norm orientation
+            # Rotation.from_quat rejects. Emit a zero delta and re-arm the
+            # first-frame baseline so the next valid frame does not jump.
+            if not bool(inp[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_IS_VALID]):
+                self._first_frame = True
+                ee_delta[0] = np.zeros(6, dtype=np.float32)
+                return
             grip_pos = np.from_dlpack(inp[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_POSITION])
             grip_ori = np.from_dlpack(inp[ControllerInputIndex.GRIP_ORIENTATION])
             wrist = np.concatenate([grip_pos, grip_ori])