build: improve dependencies (#259)

- finally removed no-build-isolation requirement!
- dependency groups in pyproject.toml to manage dev dependencies
- use fetchcontent declare in rcs to avoid eigen installation
- use fetchcontent declare for extensions such as fr3 and panda to minimize system dependencies

Author: juelg

.github/workflows/ci.yaml

@@ -30,12 +30,14 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
           cache: "pip"
+      - name: upgrade pip
+        run: pip install --upgrade pip
       - name: Install building dependencies
-        run: python -m pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: python -m pip install --group build_deps
       - name: Install wheel
         run: python -m pip install wheel
       - name: Install the package
-        run: python -m pip install -ve '.[dev]' --no-build-isolation
+        run: python -m pip install -ve . --group dev
       - name: Check formatting
         run: make pycheckformat
       - name: Code linting
@@ -91,14 +93,16 @@ jobs:
           python-version: "3.11"
           cache: "pip"
 
+      - name: upgrade pip
+        run: pip install --upgrade pip
       - name: Install build dependencies
-        run: pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: pip install --group build_deps
 
       - name: Install rcs
-        run: pip install -ve '.[dev]' --no-build-isolation
+        run: pip install -ve . --group dev
 
       - name: Install extension
-        run: pip install -ve extensions/${{ matrix.extension }} --no-build-isolation
+        run: pip install -ve extensions/${{ matrix.extension }}
 
   build_cpp_extensions:
     needs: [pythonpackage, check-paths]
@@ -135,12 +139,14 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
           cache: "pip"
+      - name: upgrade pip
+        run: pip install --upgrade pip
       - name: Install Python dependencies
-        run: pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: pip install --group build_deps
       - name: Install RCS
-        run: pip install -ve '.[dev]' --no-build-isolation
+        run: pip install -ve . --group dev
       - name: Install extension
-        run: pip install -ve extensions/${{ matrix.extension }} --no-build-isolation
+        run: pip install -ve extensions/${{ matrix.extension }}
       - name: Check that stub files are up-to-date
         run: make -C extensions/${{ matrix.extension }} stubgen && git diff --exit-code
       - name: Check clang format

.github/workflows/cpp.yaml

@@ -30,9 +30,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
           cache: "pip"
+      - name: upgrade pip
+        run: pip install --upgrade pip
       - name: Install Python dependencies
-        run: |
-          pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: pip install --group dev --group build_deps
       - name: Check clang format
         run: make cppcheckformat
       # - name: Clang Tidy
@@ -59,9 +60,10 @@ jobs:
         with:
           python-version: "3.11"
           cache: "pip"
+      - name: upgrade pip
+        run: pip install --upgrade pip
       - name: Install Python dependencies
-        run: |
-          pip install -r requirements.txt
+        run: pip install --group dev --group build_deps
       - name: GCC build
         run: make gcccompile PYTHON_EXECUTABLE=${{ steps.setup-python.outputs.python-path }}
 

CMakeLists.txt

@@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ set(CMAKE_POSITION_INDEPENDENT_CODE ON)
 
 include(FetchContent)
 
-find_package(Eigen3 REQUIRED)
-find_package(Python3 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development REQUIRED)
+find_package(Python3 COMPONENTS Interpreter Development.Module REQUIRED)
 find_package(MuJoCo REQUIRED)
 find_package(pinocchio REQUIRED)
 
@@ -45,8 +44,22 @@ FetchContent_Declare(pybind11
     GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
     EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
 )
+FetchContent_Declare(Eigen3
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://gitlab.com/libeigen/eigen.git
+    GIT_TAG 3.4.1
+    GIT_PROGRESS TRUE
+    EXCLUDE_FROM_ALL
+)
+FetchContent_Declare(
+    egl_headers
+    GIT_REPOSITORY https://github.com/KhronosGroup/EGL-Registry.git
+    GIT_TAG        main
+    GIT_SHALLOW    TRUE
+)
 
-FetchContent_MakeAvailable(pybind11)
+FetchContent_MakeAvailable(pybind11 Eigen3 egl_headers)
 include(compile_scenes)
+# egl headers
+include_directories(${egl_headers_SOURCE_DIR}/api)
 
 add_subdirectory(src)

README.md

@@ -98,25 +98,29 @@ For common environment compositions factory functions such as `rcs.envs.creators
 This and other example can be found in the [examples](examples/) folder.
 
 ## Installation
+### From Source
 
-We build and test RCS on the latest Debian and on the latest Ubuntu LTS.
+Make sure that common build tools i.e. `build-essential` and a C++ compiler like `gcc` or `clang` are installed on your system/conda/docker.
 
-1.  **System Dependencies**:
-    ```shell
-    sudo apt install $(cat debian_deps.txt)
-    ```
+RCS works best in python 3.11, all extensions have been tested to work in 3.11.
+- For python >3.11 the `rcs_realsense` extension wont work for the pyrealsense2 version that RCS is using.
+- For python >3.12 the ompl python module is not available on pypi as of now. If OMPL is not used, it's save to remove this dependency in the pyproject.toml.
 
-2.  **Python Environment**:
-    ```shell
-    conda create -n rcs python=3.11
-    conda activate rcs
-    pip install -r requirements.txt
-    ```
+```shell
+# setup environment
+conda create -n rcs python=3.11
+conda activate rcs
+conda install conda-forge::eigen conda-forge::glfw
+# or sudo apt install $(cat debian_deps.txt)
+pip install 'pip>=25.1'
+pip install --group build_deps
+
+# install rcs
+pip install -ve .
+```
 
-3.  **Install RCS**:
-    ```shell
-    pip install -ve . --no-build-isolation
-    ```
+### Via PyPI/pip
+Coming soon...
 
 ## Hardware Extensions
 
@@ -125,29 +129,30 @@ RCS supports various hardware extensions (e.g., FR3, xArm7, RealSense). These ar
 To install an extension:
 
 ```shell
-pip install -ve extensions/rcs_fr3 --no-build-isolation
+# make sure to install system libraries before
+sudo apt install $(cat debian_deps.txt)
+pip install -ve extensions/rcs_fr3
 ```
 
 For a full list of extensions and detailed documentation, visit [robotcontrolstack.org/extensions](https://robotcontrolstack.org/extensions).
 
 ## Documentation
-
-
 For full documentation, including installation, usage, and API reference, please visit:
-
 **[robotcontrolstack.org](https://robotcontrolstack.org)**
 
-## Citation
+## Contribution
+For contribution guidelines checkout [robotcontrolstack.org/contributing](https://robotcontrolstack.org/contributing)
 
+## Citation
 If you find RCS useful for your academic work, please consider citing it:
 
 ```bibtex
-@misc{juelg2025robotcontrolstack,
+@inproceedings{juelg2026robotcontrolstack,
   title={{Robot Control Stack}: {A} Lean Ecosystem for Robot Learning at Scale}, 
   author={Tobias J{\"u}lg and Pierre Krack and Seongjin Bien and Yannik Blei and Khaled Gamal and Ken Nakahara and Johannes Hechtl and Roberto Calandra and Wolfram Burgard and Florian Walter},
-  year={2025},
-  howpublished = {\url{https://arxiv.org/abs/2509.14932}}
+  year={2026},
+  booktitle={Proc.~of the IEEE Int.~Conf.~on Robotics \& Automation (ICRA)},
+  note={Accepted for publication.}
 }
 ```
-
 For more scientific info, visit the [paper website](https://robotcontrolstack.github.io/).

debian_deps.txt

@@ -1,7 +1,3 @@
 build-essential
 gcc
-libpoco-dev
-libeigen3-dev
-libglfw3-dev
-libconsole-bridge-dev
-libtinyxml2-dev
+libglfw3-dev

docker/Dockerfile

@@ -72,13 +72,12 @@ WORKDIR /home/devuser/project
 
 # Upgrade pip and install project build tools
 RUN pip install --upgrade pip setuptools
-RUN pip config --site set global.no-build-isolation false
 
 # Install development dependencies
-RUN pip install -r requirements.txt
+RUN pip install --group build_deps
 
 # Install the package in editable mode (CMake + pybind11 + scikit-build-core triggered)
-RUN pip install -e . --no-cache-dir --verbose --no-build-isolation
+RUN pip install -e . --no-cache-dir --verbose
 
 # Default command that runs when you start a container without specifying a command explicitly.
 CMD ["python3"]

docs/contributing/index.md

@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ We welcome contributions to the Robot Control Stack!
 Install the development dependencies:
 ```shell
 # from root directory
-pip install -ve '.[dev]' --no-build-isolation
+pip install -ve . --group dev
 ```
 
 We provide a `Makefile` with several useful commands for development.

docs/extensions/rcs_fr3.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ This extension provides support for the Franka Research 3 (FR3) robot in RCS.
 
 ```shell
 # from root directory
-pip install -ve extensions/rcs_fr3 --no-build-isolation
+pip install -ve extensions/rcs_fr3
 ```
 
 ### Configuration

docs/extensions/rcs_panda.md

@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@ This extension provides support for the Franka Emika Panda robot in RCS.
 
 ```shell
 # from root directory
-pip install -ve extensions/rcs_panda --no-build-isolation
+pip install -ve extensions/rcs_panda
 ```
 
 ## Usage

docs/getting_started/index.md

@@ -17,20 +17,21 @@ We build and test RCS on the latest Debian and on the latest Ubuntu LTS.
     ```shell
     conda create -n rcs python=3.11
     conda activate rcs
+    pip install 'pip>=25.1'
     ```
 
 3.  Install the package dependencies:
 
     ```shell
-    pip install -r requirements.txt
+    pip install --group build_deps
     ```
 
 ### Building RCS
 
 Build and install RCS in editable mode:
 
 ```shell
-pip install -ve . --no-build-isolation
+pip install -ve .
 ```
 
 For a docker deployment, see the `docker` folder in the repository.