Set deadline-paced teleop retargeting by default

Use DeadlinePacingConfig for pipelined retargeting so IsaacTeleop work is
scheduled closer to when IsaacLab consumes the action. This reduces Python GIL contention during the start of simulation step and improves overlap with rendering, which can lower end-to-end teleoperation latency.

Author: hougantc-nvda

source/isaaclab_teleop/changelog.d/hougantc-pipelined-retargeting.rst

@@ -8,7 +8,10 @@ Changed
 ^^^^^^^
 
 * Changed :class:`~isaaclab_teleop.IsaacTeleopCfg` to enable IsaacTeleop
-  pipelined retargeting by default when supported by the installed
-  IsaacTeleop version. Set
+  deadline-paced pipelined retargeting by default when supported by the
+  installed IsaacTeleop version. This returns the latest completed retargeting
+  output while the current frame is submitted, using
+  ``DeadlinePacingConfig(safety_margin_s=0.025)`` to sample close to
+  the next simulation consumption point. Set
   ``retargeting_execution=RetargetingExecutionConfig(mode="sync")`` to restore
   exact current-frame retargeting.

source/isaaclab_teleop/docs/README.md

@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ rendering without blocking.
 | `retargeters_to_tune` | `Callable[[], list[BaseRetargeter]] \| None` | `None` | Retargeters to expose in the tuning UI |
 | `plugins` | `list[PluginConfig]` | `[]` | IsaacTeleop plugin configurations |
 | `sim_device` | `str` | `"cuda:0"` | Torch device for output action tensors |
-| `retargeting_execution` | `RetargetingExecutionConfig \| None` | `mode="pipelined"` when supported | IsaacTeleop retargeting execution settings |
+| `retargeting_execution` | `RetargetingExecutionConfig \| None` | `mode="pipelined", pacing=DeadlinePacingConfig(safety_margin_s=0.025)` when supported | IsaacTeleop retargeting execution settings |
 | `teleoperation_active_default` | `bool` | `False` | Whether teleoperation is active on session start |
 | `app_name` | `str` | `"IsaacLabTeleop"` | Application name for the IsaacTeleop session |
 

source/isaaclab_teleop/isaaclab_teleop/isaac_teleop_cfg.py

@@ -31,19 +31,22 @@
 
 
 try:
-    from isaacteleop.teleop_session_manager import RetargetingExecutionConfig as _RetargetingExecutionConfig
+    import isaacteleop.teleop_session_manager as _tsm
 
     _RETARGETING_EXECUTION_SUPPORTED = True
 except ImportError:
-    _RetargetingExecutionConfig = None
+    _tsm = None
     _RETARGETING_EXECUTION_SUPPORTED = False
 
 
 def _default_retargeting_execution_config() -> Any | None:
     """Build Isaac Lab's default IsaacTeleop retargeting execution config."""
     if not _RETARGETING_EXECUTION_SUPPORTED:
         return None
-    return _RetargetingExecutionConfig(mode="pipelined")
+    return _tsm.RetargetingExecutionConfig(
+        mode="pipelined",
+        pacing=_tsm.DeadlinePacingConfig(safety_margin_s=0.025),
+    )
 
 
 @configclass

source/isaaclab_teleop/test/test_cloudxr_lifecycle.py

@@ -74,11 +74,17 @@ def _install_stubs():
             _stubs_installed[name] = MagicMock()
             sys.modules[name] = _stubs_installed[name]
 
+    @dataclass
+    class DeadlinePacingConfig:
+        safety_margin_s: float = 0.025
+
     @dataclass
     class RetargetingExecutionConfig:
         mode: str = "sync"
+        pacing: DeadlinePacingConfig | None = None
 
     tsm = sys.modules["isaacteleop.teleop_session_manager"]
+    tsm.DeadlinePacingConfig = DeadlinePacingConfig  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
     tsm.RetargetingExecutionConfig = RetargetingExecutionConfig  # type: ignore[attr-defined]
 
 
@@ -155,11 +161,12 @@ def test_profiles_are_in_same_directory(self):
 class TestRetargetingExecutionConfig:
     """Tests for Isaac Lab's IsaacTeleop retargeting execution defaults."""
 
-    def test_cfg_defaults_to_pipelined_retargeting(self):
-        """Isaac Lab opts into IsaacTeleop pipelined retargeting by default."""
+    def test_cfg_defaults_to_deadline_paced_pipelined_retargeting(self):
+        """Isaac Lab defaults to deadline-paced pipelined retargeting."""
         cfg = _make_cfg()
 
         assert cfg.retargeting_execution.mode == "pipelined"
+        assert cfg.retargeting_execution.pacing.safety_margin_s == 0.025
 
     def test_cfg_defaults_to_none_with_legacy_isaacteleop(self):
         """Older IsaacTeleop releases can still construct IsaacTeleopCfg."""