RTX Lidar not working in Isaac Sim 5.0.0

Omniverse Isaac Sim
1

Isaac Sim Version

5.0.0

Operating System

Ubuntu 24.04

GPU Information

  • Model: GeForce RTX 4080 Laptop GPU
  • Driver Version: 575.64.03

Topic Description

Detailed Description

I am trying to setup a simple simulation with a single Lidar to output data to ROS2.
This is kind of impossible to do in Isaac Sim 5.0.0 and i a wondering why is everything over complicated..

Steps to Reproduce

Below are 3 different options I tried to have a simple single Lidar simulation to publish data. None of them worked :)

Option 1

This is the very simple approach of creating a base rotating Lidar. Follow the Official tutorial -not working- and get stuck at creating the ROS2 Omnigraph with the following errors: Parameter check failed and <lidar-prim> is not a valid Lidar prim. Check the lidar prim. Of course, i made sure to select the appropriate lidar prim and not its container.

Tried different options, without success.

I noticed the dummy Lidar does not have a Lidar API so I thought the issue originated from that. But adding the new OmniSensorGenericLidarCoreAPI (as explained here) to the dummy Lidar does not solve the issue.

Option 2

Instead of creating a dummy Lidar with the Create > Sensors > Physics Lidar > Rotating as described in previous case, let’s use the “official assets”.

  • (Window > Browsers > Isaac Sim assets).
  • Drag and drop a lidar (e.g Ouster 0) on the scene
  • Add the builtin ROS2 RTX Lidar Omnigraph Node under tools > robotics > ROS2 omnigraph
  • The omnigraph is created correctly, but this error appears (filling up the terminal quickly)
2025-07-11T09:37:04Z [3,328,950ms] [Warning] [isaacsim.sensors.rtx.plugin] IsaacComputeRTXLidarFlatScan: Lidar prim elevationDeg contains nonzero value 44.500000, indicating a 3D lidar. Skipping execution.
2025-07-11T09:37:04Z [3,328,998ms] [Warning] [isaacsim.sensors.rtx.plugin] IsaacComputeRTXLidarFlatScan: Lidar prim elevationDeg contains nonzero value 44.500000, indicating a 3D lidar. Skipping execution.
2025-07-11T09:37:04Z [3,329,042ms] [Warning] [isaacsim.sensors.rtx.plugin] IsaacComputeRTXLidarFlatScan: Lidar prim elevationDeg contains nonzero value 44.500000, indicating a 3D lidar. Skipping execution.

And it is not working because:

  • ROS2 topic list: laser_scan NOT published
  • ROS2 topic echo /point_cloud: point_cloud full of zeros

BTW, the official assets still use the old Lidar API and not the OmniSensorGenericLidarCoreAPI as explained here. Will they be ported to this new API in the near future?

Again, adding the new OmniSensorGenericLidarCoreAPI to the Lidar does not solve the issue.

Option 3

Ok so instead of relying on the broken official Nvidia assets, let’s be clever and use the “manufacturer approved” ones! These Lidars do use the new OmniSensorGenericLidarCoreAPI and should be working right?
See explanation here: Non-Visual Sensors — Isaac Sim Documentation

  • Open a new scene, add a “certified” RTX Lidar (Create > Sensors > RTX Lidar > Ouster > OS0)
  • Add the ROS2 Lidar Omnigraph (builtin, Tools > Robotics > ROS2 Omnigraphs > RTX Lidar), enabling both the laser scan and point cloud
  • Enable the debug view in the omnigraph to see the point cloud and laser scan in the simulation.
  • Play the simulation, debug view does not appear
  • ROS2 topic list: laser_scan NOT published
  • ROS2 topic echo /point_cloud: point_cloud full of zeros

Conclusion It is still very difficult to have basic Lidar sensor to work: dummy, official assets and certified ones just don’t work.

3

Hi @JeanLesur This is a known issue of RTX Lidar in Isaac Sim 5.0.0. Please check out this post on Github [BUG]: Lidar Points not Published Properly using ROS2 Omnigraph · Issue #46 · isaac-sim/IsaacSim · GitHub

There is already a fix internally and let me reach out to them when it will be released.

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