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Software Setup Guide

This guide walks you through installing all required software for the Physical AI Humanoid Robotics course. Follow these steps in order for a smooth setup experience.

Prerequisites​

  • Ubuntu 22.04 LTS installed (native or dual-boot recommended)
  • At least 100GB free disk space
  • Stable internet connection
  • NVIDIA GPU with latest drivers installed

1. System Preparation​

Update System Packages​

sudo apt update && sudo apt upgrade -y
sudo apt install -y build-essential git curl wget python3-pip

Install NVIDIA Drivers​

For RTX 30-series and newer:

# Add NVIDIA PPA
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:graphics-drivers/ppa
sudo apt update

# Install recommended driver (typically 535 or newer)
sudo ubuntu-drivers autoinstall

# Reboot to apply changes
sudo reboot

Verify installation:

nvidia-smi

You should see your GPU listed with driver version and CUDA version.

2. Install ROS 2 Humble​

Set Locale​

locale  # Check current settings
sudo apt update && sudo apt install locales
sudo locale-gen en_US en_US.UTF-8
sudo update-locale LC_ALL=en_US.UTF-8 LANG=en_US.UTF-8
export LANG=en_US.UTF-8

Add ROS 2 Repository​

# Enable Ubuntu Universe repository
sudo apt install software-properties-common
sudo add-apt-repository universe

# Add ROS 2 GPG key
sudo curl -sSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ros/rosdistro/master/ros.key -o /usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg

# Add repository to sources list
echo "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/usr/share/keyrings/ros-archive-keyring.gpg] http://packages.ros.org/ros2/ubuntu $(. /etc/os-release && echo $UBUNTU_CODENAME) main" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/ros2.list > /dev/null

Install ROS 2 Packages​

sudo apt update
sudo apt install -y ros-humble-desktop
sudo apt install -y ros-dev-tools
sudo apt install -y python3-colcon-common-extensions

Environment Setup​

Add to your ~/.bashrc:

echo "source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash" >> ~/.bashrc
source ~/.bashrc

Verify Installation​

ros2 --help

3. Install Gazebo Classic​

sudo apt install -y ros-humble-gazebo-ros-pkgs
sudo apt install -y gazebo

Verify installation:

gazebo --version

4. Install NVIDIA Isaac Sim​

Install Omniverse Launcher​

  1. Download from NVIDIA Omniverse
  2. Extract and run the AppImage:
chmod +x omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage
./omniverse-launcher-linux.AppImage

Install Isaac Sim via Omniverse​

  1. Open Omniverse Launcher
  2. Go to "Exchange" tab
  3. Search for "Isaac Sim"
  4. Click "Install" (version 2023.1.1 or newer)
  5. Wait for installation to complete (~20GB download)

Verify Isaac Sim Installation​

Launch Isaac Sim from Omniverse Launcher and check that it opens without errors.

5. Install Isaac ROS​

Install Docker (Required for Isaac ROS)​

# Remove old versions
sudo apt-get remove docker docker-engine docker.io containerd runc

# Install prerequisites
sudo apt-get install -y \
    ca-certificates \
    curl \
    gnupg \
    lsb-release

# Add Docker GPG key
sudo mkdir -p /etc/apt/keyrings
curl -fsSL https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu/gpg | sudo gpg --dearmor -o /etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg

# Add Docker repository
echo \
  "deb [arch=$(dpkg --print-architecture) signed-by=/etc/apt/keyrings/docker.gpg] https://download.docker.com/linux/ubuntu \
  $(lsb_release -cs) stable" | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/docker.list > /dev/null

# Install Docker
sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y docker-ce docker-ce-cli containerd.io docker-compose-plugin

# Add user to docker group
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
newgrp docker

Install NVIDIA Container Toolkit​

distribution=$(. /etc/os-release;echo $ID$VERSION_ID)
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/gpgkey | sudo apt-key add -
curl -s -L https://nvidia.github.io/nvidia-docker/$distribution/nvidia-docker.list | sudo tee /etc/apt/sources.list.d/nvidia-docker.list

sudo apt-get update
sudo apt-get install -y nvidia-container-toolkit
sudo systemctl restart docker

Clone Isaac ROS Repositories​

mkdir -p ~/workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/src
cd ~/workspaces/isaac_ros-dev/src
git clone https://github.com/NVIDIA-ISAAC-ROS/isaac_ros_common.git

6. Install Unity (Optional)​

Install Unity Hub​

# Download Unity Hub
wget https://public-cdn.cloud.unity3d.com/hub/prod/UnityHub.AppImage

# Make executable
chmod +x UnityHub.AppImage

# Run Unity Hub
./UnityHub.AppImage

Install Unity Editor​

  1. Open Unity Hub
  2. Go to "Installs" → "Install Editor"
  3. Choose Unity 2022.3 LTS or newer
  4. Add "Linux Build Support" module

Install Unity Robotics Hub​

In Unity, install via Package Manager:

  • Window → Package Manager
  • Add package from git URL: https://github.com/Unity-Technologies/ROS-TCP-Connector.git?path=/com.unity.robotics.ros-tcp-connector

7. Additional Development Tools​

Install Visual Studio Code​

sudo snap install --classic code

Install Useful ROS 2 Tools​

sudo apt install -y \
    ros-humble-rviz2 \
    ros-humble-rqt \
    ros-humble-robot-state-publisher \
    ros-humble-joint-state-publisher-gui \
    ros-humble-xacro

Install Python Packages​

pip3 install --upgrade pip
pip3 install numpy opencv-python matplotlib torch torchvision

8. Verify Complete Setup​

Test ROS 2​

# Terminal 1: Start talker
ros2 run demo_nodes_cpp talker

# Terminal 2: Start listener
ros2 run demo_nodes_py listener

Test Gazebo with ROS 2​

ros2 launch gazebo_ros gazebo.launch.py

Test Isaac Sim​

Launch Isaac Sim from Omniverse Launcher and load a sample robot scene.

Troubleshooting​

Common Issues​

Issue: ROS 2 commands not found

  • Solution: Ensure you've sourced the setup file: source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash

Issue: Gazebo crashes on startup

  • Solution: Check NVIDIA drivers with nvidia-smi and ensure OpenGL is working

Issue: Isaac Sim won't launch

  • Solution: Verify GPU has at least 8GB VRAM and drivers are up to date

Issue: Docker permission denied

  • Solution: Run sudo usermod -aG docker $USER and log out/in again

Next Steps​

Resources​