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name: simulation-environments description: "The simulation-environments skill guides users through creating, stepping, inspecting, rendering, resetting, and closing isolated IR-SIM environments in 2D, 3D, headless, and externally controlled workflows." disable-model-invocation: true metadata: disco-role: operating license: MIT

Simulation environments

Use this sub-skill when the task is to run IR-SIM, choose a YAML world, control its lifecycle, use internal or external state advancement, render safely, or run more than one environment. Keep scene YAML/object schemas in scene-configuration, sensor and map payloads in sensing-and-mapping, planners and behaviors in navigation-and-planning, and custom controllers/registries or live GUI input in extension-and-control.

Fast route

1. Install the base package and verify import irsim; add pynput only for live keyboard input and imageio[ffmpeg] only for video output. No GPU is required for the covered workflows.
2. Start from a self-contained YAML path: env = irsim.make("world.yaml", display=False, seed=7) for batch/headless work, or omit display=False only when a supported desktop backend is intended.
3. Run env.step() then env.render() in internal mode, check env.done(), and always call env.close(ending_time=0) in a finally block. Use scripts/render_smoke.py --help for a safe, tiny, arbitrary-cwd check.
4. Select step_mode="external" when another system owns state. Mutate every relevant object's state and velocity, call env.step() without an action, and use env.refresh() when a direct mutation needs derived data immediately.
5. Read the linked references for exact signatures, reset/reload semantics, action alignment, multi-environment/RNG caveats, and optional rendering.

Scope boundary

This skill covers irsim.make, EnvBase/EnvBase3D, clocks and statuses, headless rendering and figure output, lifecycle cleanup, query/draw helpers, seed handling, and isolated environment instances. It does not define the full YAML object schema, sensor array formats, planner contracts, or extension registration APIs; follow the cross-links above instead.

Evidence and limits

The operating guidance is based on the IR-SIM 2.10.2 public entry point and environment/plot implementations, the English quick-start, environment, multiple-environment, and animation documentation, and focused lifecycle and plot test evidence. Interactive keyboard events, desktop windows, MP4/ffmpeg, and long visual demos are intentionally not bundled or claimed as verified. The helper adapts only a tiny headless render and does not depend on an original checkout file.