Remove OVPhysX presets from deformable lift tasks

[mmichelis]

Summary

• Remove OVPhysX physics, deformable, scene, event, and curriculum presets from the cloth and soft Franka lift tasks and their camera variants
• Keep Isaac Sim PhysX and the automatic PhysX selector backed by Isaac Sim PhysX
• Update the environment browser and add regression coverage

OVPhysX currently does not inherit deformable-root physics-material bindings onto child simulation meshes, causing these tasks to simulate with incorrect material behavior. This is tracked in NVIDIA-Omniverse/PhysX#504.

Affected tasks: Isaac-Lift-Cloth-Franka, Isaac-Lift-Cloth-Franka-Camera, Isaac-Lift-Soft-Franka, Isaac-Lift-Soft-Franka-Camera. The ovrtx renderer is retained, since it is a renderer rather than the removed physics backend.

Breaking change

physics=ovphysx and presets=ovphysx are no longer available for these four tasks. Use physics=isaacsim_physx instead.

Testing

• uv run isaaclab -f: all hooks passed
• Focused preset and environment-browser tests: 5 passed. The new regression fails on all four task IDs without the configuration change and passes with it.

[greptile-apps]

Greptile Summary

The PR removes OVPhysX support from the four Franka cloth and soft-deformable lift tasks while retaining Isaac Sim PhysX, automatic PhysX selection, and OVRTX rendering.

• Removes OVPhysX physics, deformable-object, scene, event, and curriculum preset alternatives.
• Updates generated environment-browser capability data.
• Adds regression coverage ensuring the affected tasks no longer advertise OVPhysX.
• Documents the breaking preset change and replacement selector.

Confidence Score: 5/5

The PR appears safe to merge, with the unsupported backend removed consistently from task configuration, preset resolution, browser metadata, tests, and release documentation.

The affected task variants now reject OVPhysX during preset resolution, retain valid Isaac Sim PhysX and automatic selection paths, and have synchronized regression coverage and browser metadata.

Important Files Changed

Filename	Overview
source/isaaclab_tasks/isaaclab_tasks/core/lift/config/franka_soft/franka_soft_env_cfg.py	Consistently removes OVPhysX alternatives across the soft-deformable task’s physics, object, scene, event, and curriculum presets.
source/isaaclab_tasks/isaaclab_tasks/core/lift/config/franka_soft/franka_cloth_env_cfg.py	Removes the cloth task’s OVPhysX alternatives while preserving coherent Isaac Sim PhysX and automatic PhysX configurations.
source/isaaclab_tasks/test/core/test_preset_kit_decision.py	Adds focused coverage confirming all four affected task variants advertise Isaac Sim PhysX but no OVPhysX preset.
docs/source/_static/css/environment-browser.js	Updates generated browser metadata to match the affected tasks’ authoritative preset availability.
source/isaaclab_tasks/changelog.d/mmichelis-remove-ovphysx-deformable-lift-presets.major.rst	Clearly documents the breaking removal and directs existing users to Isaac Sim PhysX.

_{Reviews (1): Last reviewed commit: "Remove OVPhysX deformable lift presets" | Re-trigger Greptile}

[isaaclab-review-bot]

Isaac Lab Review Bot

The patch consistently removes OVPhysX availability from the four deformable Franka lift tasks while retaining Isaac Sim PhysX, automatic PhysX selection, Newton presets, and OVRTX rendering. Registry-facing documentation and focused preset coverage were updated alongside the configuration changes.

• Design and architecture: The physics, deformable, scene, event, and curriculum preset paths were traced across the cloth and soft configurations. OVPhysX-specific definitions and references are removed consistently, while physx remains backed solely by isaacsim_physx and existing defaults remain unchanged.
• API: The changed compatibility surface is explicit: physics=ovphysx and presets=ovphysx cease to be available for the four task IDs. The changelog marks this as breaking and directs users to physics=isaacsim_physx; the environment browser reflects the same availability while preserving ovrtx. The lack of a deprecation period remains a policy tradeoff for maintainers given the documented incorrect OVPhysX behavior.
• Implementation: The browser rows match the changed task presets, obsolete isaaclab_ov imports are removed, and the regression extends the closest existing preset test across all four task IDs. The existing registry-wide auto-selector assertion should remain valid because the omitted PhysxAutoCfg.ovphysx value and absent preset both resolve to None.

No blocking issues. No inline issue met the actionable-evidence threshold; the assessment above records the review feedback.

Automated review; human maintainers own approval decisions.