--- name: physical-ai-neural-reconstruction description: "Router for NVIDIA NuRec/NRE: USDZ rendering, NCore conversion, 3DGS, gRPC sensor sim, PhysicalAI HF datasets. Do NOT use for SimReady or infra setup." license: Apache-2.0 version: "0.3.0" tools: - Read - Shell compatibility: >- Router skill; downstream sibling skills require Docker, NVIDIA Container Toolkit, GPU, NGC API key, Hugging Face token with PhysicalAI gated licenses accepted, Python 3.10+, and `huggingface_hub`. Optional: CARLA / Isaac Sim 5.1 / AlpaSim for simulator integration over `serve-grpc`. metadata: author: NVIDIA Physical AI tags: - physical-ai - nurec - neural-reconstruction - router - sensor-sim upstream: repo: https://github.com/NVIDIA/nurec-skills branch: main skills_dir: .agents/skills/ skills_dir_alias: skills/ index_skill: .agents/skills/SKILL.md index_skill_name: nurec-index sibling_skills: - name: physical-ai-datasets folder: physical-ai-datasets/ upstream: https://huggingface.co/nvidia - name: ncore folder: ncore/ upstream: https://github.com/NVIDIA/ncore - name: nre folder: nre/ upstream: nvcr.io/nvidia/nre/nre - name: asset-harvester folder: asset-harvester/ upstream: https://github.com/NVIDIA/asset-harvester - name: nurec-fixer folder: nurec-fixer/ upstream: https://github.com/NVIDIA/harmonizer hf_model: https://huggingface.co/nvidia/DiffusionHarmonizer upstream_clone_path: "${PHYSICAL_AI_SKILL_HUB_UPSTREAM_ROOT:-$HOME/.physical-ai-skill-hub/upstreams}/nurec-skills" upstream_override_env: NUREC_SKILLS_UPSTREAM_ROOT --- # Physical AI Neural Reconstruction (NuRec) Router ## Purpose This is a **thin router** for NVIDIA Neural Reconstruction (NuRec) requests. It points at the upstream `nurec-index` skill at `https://github.com/NVIDIA/nurec-skills` and its five sibling skills (`physical-ai-datasets`, `ncore`, `nre`, `asset-harvester`, `nurec-fixer`). Use this skill to: - Identify which upstream sibling skill answers a NuRec question. - Locate, clone, or refresh the canonical `nurec-skills` checkout. - Order multi-step NuRec workflows (data → conversion → train → render → cleanup) before opening the upstream recipe. The canonical recipes (training, rendering, data conversion, dataset downloads, object harvesting, frame cleanup) live in the upstream sibling skills. **Never copy or reconstruct their commands here.** **Do NOT use this skill for:** - SimReady packaging of CAD or source meshes → use `omniverse-cad-to-simready`. - Generic USD performance tuning unrelated to NuRec → use `omniverse-usd-performance-tuning`. - AKS / OSMO / NIM Operator infrastructure setup → use `physical-ai-infrastructure-setup-and-resilient-scaling`. ## When to Use Read this skill **first** whenever a user mentions any of: `nurec`, `nurec router`, `nurec index`, `neural reconstruction`, `neural reconstruction engine`, `NRE`, `3DGUT`, `3DGRT`, `USDZ`, `NCore V4`, `sensor sim`, `novel view synthesis`, `PhysicalAI-Autonomous-Vehicles-NuRec`, `PhysicalAI-NuRec-PPISP`, `Cosmos-Drive-Dreams`, `asset harvester`, `nurec fixer`, `DiffusionHarmonizer`, `harmonizer`, `difix`, `difix3d`, `serve-grpc`, `render-grpc`, `warm serve-grpc`, `nre thin client`, `batch_render_rgb`, `nurec teardown`, "where do I start with NuRec", "which NuRec skill should I use for X?". Decide which upstream sibling skill answers the question, fetch it (see [Locate and fetch the upstream skills](#locate-and-fetch-the-upstream-skills)), then follow that skill's body. ## Prerequisites Router skill itself has no runtime prerequisites beyond `git` for fetching the upstream. Downstream sibling skills require: - **Docker + NVIDIA Container Toolkit + GPU** — for `nre`, `nre-tools`, and `nurec-fixer` containers (`nvcr.io/nvidia/nre/nre`, `nvcr.io/nvidia/nre/nre-tools`, `nvcr.io/nvidia/cosmos/cosmos-predict2-container:1.2`). - **NGC API key** (`NGC_API_KEY`) — for pulling NGC containers. - **Hugging Face token** (`HF_TOKEN`) with the `nvidia/PhysicalAI-*`, `nvidia/DiffusionHarmonizer`, and `nvidia/asset-harvester` gated licenses **accepted in advance** on Hugging Face. - **Python 3.10+** with `huggingface_hub` installed. - **(Optional)** CARLA, Isaac Sim 5.1, or AlpaSim for simulator integration over `serve-grpc`. Verify secrets safely (do not echo values): ```bash hf auth whoami [ -n "${HF_TOKEN:-}" ] && echo "HF_TOKEN length=${#HF_TOKEN}" || echo "HF_TOKEN unset" [ -n "${NGC_API_KEY:-}" ] && echo "NGC_API_KEY length=${#NGC_API_KEY}" || echo "NGC_API_KEY unset" ``` See [`references/secrets-handling.md`](references/secrets-handling.md) for the bash anti-patterns to avoid. ## What is NuRec? **NuRec** (NVIDIA Omniverse Neural Reconstruction) takes camera, LiDAR, radar, or stereo recordings — typically from a self-driving car or a robot — and turns them into a 3D scene you can re-render from any viewpoint. Names that come up a lot: - **NRE** — "Neural Reconstruction Engine". NuRec is the product; NRE is the engine that trains and renders. Both route to the upstream `nre` skill. - **USDZ** — the file format of a trained scene. A zip archive that Omniverse, Isaac Sim, and CARLA can open. - **NCore V4** — the input format NRE consumes. Raw recordings must be converted to NCore V4 before training. - **3DGUT / 3DGRT** — the two 3D Gaussian Splatting flavours used internally by NRE. The default Hydra recipe picks one; most users never set it manually. A typical NuRec project has three stages: 1. **Get the input** — convert your own recording to NCore V4 (`ncore`), or download a pre-converted dataset (`physical-ai-datasets`). 2. **Train the reconstruction** — feed NCore V4 to NRE; out comes a USDZ (`nre`). 3. **Render new views** — render images, videos, or LiDAR sweeps from the USDZ (`nre`). Projects that just want to *use* an existing NVIDIA-published scene skip step 2. ## Pick a skill Match the user's goal in the left column and open the named upstream skill on the right. Arrows mean "do these in order". | I want to… | Upstream skill | |------------|----------------| | Find or download a NuRec dataset NVIDIA has published | `physical-ai-datasets` | | Convert my own camera / LiDAR / radar / depth / stereo recording into NCore V4 | `ncore` | | Write a new converter for an unsupported sensor setup (drone, RGB-D, ROS 2 bag, COLMAP, ScanNet++) | `ncore` | | Train a 3D reconstruction from an NCore clip | `ncore` → `nre` | | Generate the extra inputs NRE needs (segmentation masks, depth, ego mask) | `nre` (uses the `nre-tools` container) | | Render a USDZ along the original camera positions | `nre` | | Render at full resolution / highest quality | `nre` (see "Quality presets") | | Render along a shifted trajectory (e.g. car moved 3 m left) | `nre` | | Render through a server so CARLA / Isaac Sim / AlpaSim / a custom simulator can ask for frames | `nre` (`serve-grpc`) | | Render the same USDZ many times back-to-back from Python with minimal per-call latency | `nre` (warm `serve-grpc` + thin Python client / `batch_render_rgb`) | | Render LiDAR sweeps (point clouds) from a USDZ | `nre` (`render-grpc --lidar`) | | Skip training and just render a NuRec scene NVIDIA already built | `physical-ai-datasets` → `nre` | | Extract individual 3D objects (cars, pedestrians) from a driving clip | `asset-harvester` | | Add, remove, or replace cars / pedestrians in a NuRec scene | `asset-harvester` → `nre` | | Clean up or harmonize rendered frames (ghosting, floaters, flicker, lighting/shadows) | `nurec-fixer`, **or** `--enable-difix` inside `nre` for inline rendering | | Export the scene as a PLY, mesh, depth maps, ego mask, etc. | `nre` | | Upgrade an old USDZ so newer NRE versions load it faster | `nre` (`upgrade-artifact`) | | Open a USDZ or PLY in a browser viewer | `nre` (`viewer` / `ply_viewer`) | | Measure rendering quality (PSNR, SSIM, LPIPS) against ground truth | `nre` (`eval-rendering-metrics`) | | Benchmark different reconstruction methods on the same scenes | `physical-ai-datasets` (`PhysicalAI-NuRec-PPISP`) → `nre` | | Train on multiple GPUs or on SLURM | `nre` (Workflow D) | ## Common workflows Six end-to-end workflows are documented in [`references/workflows.md`](references/workflows.md): - **A.** Make a NuRec scene from your own recording. - **B.** Use a NuRec scene NVIDIA has already trained. - **C.** Add, remove, or replace 3D objects in a scene. - **D.** Clean up rendered frames. - **E.** Benchmark reconstruction quality. - **F.** Connect NuRec to a simulator. Open that file when the user's task spans more than one sibling skill. ## Sibling skills (upstream) | Name | Upstream folder | What it does | |------|-----------------|--------------| | `physical-ai-datasets` | `.agents/skills/physical-ai-datasets/` | Catalog and download recipes for every NVIDIA Physical AI dataset on Hugging Face (driving, robotics, manipulation, NuRec scenes, benchmarks). | | `ncore` | `.agents/skills/ncore/` | Converts any sensor recording to NCore V4 (the format NRE needs). Also covers writing a new converter. | | `nre` | `.agents/skills/nre/` | The Neural Reconstruction Engine itself. Trains, renders (locally, via warm `serve-grpc` + thin Python client / `batch_render_rgb`, or to an external simulator), exports meshes / point clouds / depth, edits actors, evaluates quality. | | `asset-harvester` | `.agents/skills/asset-harvester/` | Open-source Apache-2.0 pipeline that extracts individual 3D objects from sparse views in a driving clip and saves them as `.ply` Gaussian splats with metadata. | | `nurec-fixer` | `.agents/skills/nurec-fixer/` | Standalone NVIDIA **DiffusionHarmonizer** workflow — public successor to the older Fixer / Difix3D+ recipes — that cleans rendered frames, harmonizes inserted actors, evaluates PSNR/LPIPS, and optionally fine-tunes the model. | For naming overlaps (NRE vs Fixer, ncore vs nre, AV-NuRec vs Cosmos-Drive-Dreams, NuRec vs SimReady) see [`references/mix-ups.md`](references/mix-ups.md). ## Locate and fetch the upstream skills Quick recipe (full version in [`references/upstream-fetch.md`](references/upstream-fetch.md)): ```bash UPSTREAM_ROOT="${NUREC_SKILLS_UPSTREAM_ROOT:-${PHYSICAL_AI_SKILL_HUB_UPSTREAM_ROOT:-$HOME/.physical-ai-skill-hub/upstreams}}" mkdir -p "$UPSTREAM_ROOT" if [ -d "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills/.git" ]; then git -C "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills" fetch --tags git -C "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills" checkout main git -C "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills" pull --ff-only else git clone --depth 1 https://github.com/NVIDIA/nurec-skills.git \ "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills" fi test -f "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills/.agents/skills/SKILL.md" ``` Then read the upstream skill before running any mutating command: ```bash cat "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills/.agents/skills/SKILL.md" # router cat "$UPSTREAM_ROOT/nurec-skills/.agents/skills//SKILL.md" # sibling ``` Local lookup order (try in order before the upstream clone): 1. `.agents/skills//SKILL.md` (Cursor, Codex, NemoClaw) 2. `.claude/skills//SKILL.md` (Claude Code) 3. `.cursor/skills//SKILL.md` (project-scoped) 4. `~/.cursor/skills//SKILL.md` (personal skills) ## Hard Rules - Router only — do not duplicate upstream NuRec recipes here. Read the upstream sibling skill body before running any mutating command. - Refer to sibling skills by their `name:` (e.g. `nre`), not by repo path. Folder layouts can change; the name is portable. - Clone or refresh `https://github.com/NVIDIA/nurec-skills` under the shared upstream root (`${NUREC_SKILLS_UPSTREAM_ROOT:-${PHYSICAL_AI_SKILL_HUB_UPSTREAM_ROOT:-$HOME/.physical-ai-skill-hub/upstreams}}/nurec-skills`). Do not scan broad developer workspaces such as `~/Codes` or reuse unrelated old clones. - `physical-ai-datasets` covers gated Hugging Face datasets. Do not bypass dataset license terms; the user must accept the `PhysicalAI-*` gated licenses on Hugging Face and provide a token before downloading. - Asset Harvester runs **before** packaging into a USDZ. Do not call `nre`'s `export-external-assets` on hand-rolled `.ply` files unless the user explicitly asks to skip Asset Harvester. - For artifact cleanup, prefer the built-in `--enable-difix` path in `nre`. Route to the standalone `nurec-fixer` only when the user needs the public code/model card, paired evaluation, fine-tuning, or fixes on previously rendered frames. - Do not invent NRE / NCore / DiffusionHarmonizer commands from memory. Re-read the upstream sibling skill — versions move fast (NRE `release_26.04` is the current pinned tag). - This router does not deploy infrastructure. Route AKS / OSMO / NIM Operator setup to `physical-ai-infrastructure-setup-and-resilient-scaling`. ## Limitations - **Router only.** This skill never executes mutating NuRec commands. All training, rendering, conversion, and harmonization happens in upstream sibling skills. - **Upstream-pinned.** Recipes live in `https://github.com/NVIDIA/nurec-skills`, which evolves outside this repo. Stale clones can drift; always `git pull` the upstream before relying on a sibling skill. - **Gated content.** `nvidia/PhysicalAI-*`, `nvidia/DiffusionHarmonizer`, and `nvidia/asset-harvester` require the user to accept license terms on Hugging Face first. The router cannot bypass this. - **Heavy footprint.** A complete NuRec workflow can leave 150 GB+ on disk. See [`references/teardown.md`](references/teardown.md). - **NVIDIA-only stack.** Requires an NVIDIA GPU plus the NVIDIA Container Toolkit. AMD / Intel / Apple Silicon are not supported. - **Not a SimReady pipeline.** NuRec produces a renderable USDZ from a recording; SimReady packaging of CAD or source meshes is a different pipeline (see `omniverse-cad-to-simready`). ## Troubleshooting | Error / symptom | Likely cause | Solution | |-----------------|--------------|----------| | `nurec-skills` clone missing or empty | Upstream not fetched yet | Run the clone block in [Locate and fetch the upstream skills](#locate-and-fetch-the-upstream-skills) | | `403`/`401` pulling `nvidia/PhysicalAI-*` from HF | Gated license not accepted, or `HF_TOKEN` unset / wrong scope | Accept the gated license on Hugging Face, then `hf auth login` with a token that has `read` access | | `denied: requested access to the resource is denied` from `nvcr.io/nvidia/nre/*` | Missing or expired `NGC_API_KEY` | `docker login nvcr.io` with `$oauthtoken` / `NGC_API_KEY`; rotate the key at `org.ngc.nvidia.com/setup/api-key` if needed | | NRE refuses to load a clip ("not valid NCore V4") | Recording was not converted | Run the `ncore` skill before invoking `nre` | | `serve-grpc` cold-start latency dominates a Python loop | One-shot Docker invocation per render | Use the `nre` warm `serve-grpc` + thin Python client (`batch_render_rgb`) recipe | | Output files are owned by `root` after a `docker run` | `-u $(id -u):$(id -g)` was missing | `sudo chown -R "$(id -u):$(id -g)" `; add the `-u` flag next time | | Frames have ghosting / floaters / flicker after rendering | Inline cleanup not enabled | Re-render with `nre --enable-difix`, or post-process with `nurec-fixer` (DiffusionHarmonizer) | | Stale skill names (`ncore-data-conversion`, old `nvidia/Fixer`) in agent output | Out-of-date cached skill | Update references to `ncore` and `nurec-fixer` (DiffusionHarmonizer); see [`references/maintenance.md`](references/maintenance.md) | | Bash anti-pattern `${HF_TOKEN:+yes}${HF_TOKEN:-no}` echoed token value | Misuse of bash parameter expansion | Rotate the token; use `hf auth whoami` or length-only checks (see [`references/secrets-handling.md`](references/secrets-handling.md)) | ## Cross-skill teardown A complete NuRec workflow can leave **150 GB+** on disk between container images, model weights, code clones, conda envs, and output directories. Each sibling skill has its own dedicated `Teardown` section — read them in the order documented in [`references/teardown.md`](references/teardown.md) when the user no longer needs the workflow. ## Keeping this router up to date Procedure for adding new sibling skills, renames, or upstream URL changes lives in [`references/maintenance.md`](references/maintenance.md). Treat the upstream `nurec-index` at as authoritative; this skill mirrors only the picker tables, the workflow ordering, and the upstream fetch recipe.