Add intersect_ray function that uses BVH accelerated raycasting, Remove SensorRaycast

CHANGELOG.md

@@ -20,12 +20,14 @@
 - Add `newton.utils.OnnxRuntime`, a graph-capturable ONNX inference engine backed solely by Warp kernels (no `onnxruntime` or `torch` runtime dependency); used by `ControllerNeuralMLP` and `ControllerNeuralLSTM` to load `.onnx` policies. To migrate a TorchScript policy, run `torch.onnx.export(model, dummy_input, "policy.onnx", opset_version=17)` once and point the controllers at the resulting `.onnx` file. The `onnx` package is now an optional extra (`pip install newton[onnx]`); install it explicitly to use the ONNX runtime.
 - Add USD parsing for `NewtonSiteAPI` to mark shapes as sites.
 - Add `ViewerRTX`, a real-time ray-traced viewer powered by NVIDIA OVRTX.
+- Add functional `newton.intersect_ray()` shape query helper for composing custom raycast sensors
 - Support negative (mirrored) scale on mesh, convex hull, and SDF shapes, so a single `Mesh` instance can be shared across shapes with different signed scales without re-baking
 - Add `newton.utils.ColorSpace`, `color_srgb_to_linear()`, `color_linear_to_srgb()`, and `SensorTiledCamera.RenderConfig.output_color_space` for color-space boundaries
 - Add USD parsing for `NewtonMassAPI`: shell mass model (`newton:massModel`), shell thickness (`newton:shellThickness`), and compact inertia tensor (`newton:inertia`)
 
 ### Changed
 
+- `GeoType.HFIELD` shapes now use a `wp.Mesh` BVH for raycasting (built during `ModelBuilder.finalize()`), replacing the per-thread DDA grid traversal; the raycast kernel signature no longer accepts `shape_heightfield_index`, `heightfield_data`, or `heightfield_elevations` — those arrays are still present on `Model` for collision kernels
 - `ModelBuilder.finalize()` no longer writes the deferred mesh SDF back to `Mesh.sdf` on shared `Mesh` instances. The SDF data is retained on the finalized `Model` (`model.shape_sdf_index`, `model.texture_sdf_data`). Call `Mesh.build_sdf()` directly when you want the SDF stored on a `Mesh`.
 - `ModelBuilder.add_shape_convex_hull()` (and any path producing `GeoType.CONVEX_MESH`) now raises `ValueError` if `ShapeConfig.sdf_*` or `ShapeConfig.is_hydroelastic` are set, matching `add_shape_mesh()`. Build and attach the SDF on the underlying `Mesh` via `Mesh.build_sdf()` instead.
 - Treat `NewtonSDFCollisionAPI` and `NewtonMeshCollisionAPI` as independent collision representations in the USD importer. Co-applying both APIs on the same prim emits a warning and SDF configuration is used. `physics:approximation` (inherited from `PhysicsMeshCollisionAPI`) is ignored on SDF prims with a warning. `ModelBuilder.approximate_meshes()` raises `ValueError` for mesh-replacing methods (`convex_hull`, `coacd`, `vhacd`, `bounding_box`, `bounding_sphere`) when a target shape carries deferred SDF configuration or the `HYDROELASTIC` flag.
@@ -48,12 +50,14 @@
 
 ### Removed
 
+- Remove `SensorRaycast` (deprecated in 1.2); use `SensorTiledCamera` with `SensorTiledCamera.utils.compute_pinhole_camera_rays()` and `create_depth_image_output()` instead
 - Remove `SensorContact.net_force` (deprecated in 1.1.0); use `SensorContact.total_force` and `SensorContact.force_matrix` instead
 - Remove `include_total` parameter from `SensorContact` (deprecated in 1.1.0); use `measure_total` instead
 - Remove `SensorContact.sensing_objs` (deprecated in 1.1.0); use `SensorContact.sensing_obj_idx` and `SensorContact.sensing_obj_type` instead
 - Remove `SensorContact.counterparts` and `SensorContact.reading_indices` (deprecated in 1.1.0); use `SensorContact.counterpart_indices` and `SensorContact.counterpart_type` instead
 - Remove `SensorContact.shape` (deprecated in 1.1.0); use `total_force.shape` / `force_matrix.shape` instead
 - Remove `SensorContact.ObjectType` enum (deprecated in 1.1.0); use the `sensing_obj_type` and `counterpart_type` attributes instead
+- Remove `raycast_kernel_no_hfield`; use `raycast_kernel` instead
 
 ### Fixed
 

docs/api/newton.rst

@@ -71,6 +71,7 @@ newton
    eval_ik
    eval_jacobian
    eval_mass_matrix
+   intersect_ray
 
 .. rubric:: Constants
 

docs/api/newton_sensors.rst

@@ -16,5 +16,4 @@ newton.sensors
    SensorContact
    SensorFrameTransform
    SensorIMU
-   SensorRaycast
    SensorTiledCamera

docs/concepts/sensors.rst

@@ -95,16 +95,14 @@ Examples::
 Available Sensors
 -----------------
 
-Newton provides five sensor types. See the
+Newton provides four sensor types. See the
 :doc:`API reference <../api/newton_sensors>` for constructor arguments,
 attributes, and usage examples.
 
 * :class:`~newton.sensors.SensorContact` -- contact forces between bodies or shapes, including friction decomposition,
   with optional per-counterpart breakdown.
 * :class:`~newton.sensors.SensorFrameTransform` -- relative transforms of shapes/sites with respect to reference sites.
 * :class:`~newton.sensors.SensorIMU` -- linear acceleration and angular velocity at site frames.
-* :class:`~newton.sensors.SensorRaycast` -- *(deprecated)* ray-based depth images from a virtual camera; use
-  :class:`~newton.sensors.SensorTiledCamera` instead.
 * :class:`~newton.sensors.SensorTiledCamera` -- raytraced color and depth rendering across multiple worlds.
 
 Extended Attributes

newton/__init__.py

@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
     ParticleFlags,
     ShapeFlags,
     TetMesh,
+    intersect_ray,
 )
 
 __all__ += [
@@ -41,6 +42,7 @@
     "ParticleFlags",
     "ShapeFlags",
     "TetMesh",
+    "intersect_ray",
 ]
 
 # ==================================================================================

newton/_src/geometry/__init__.py

@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 from .contact_match import MATCH_BROKEN, MATCH_NOT_FOUND
 from .flags import ParticleFlags, ShapeFlags
 from .inertia import compute_inertia_shape, compute_inertia_sphere, transform_inertia
+from .raycast import intersect_ray as intersect_ray
 from .sdf_utils import SDF
 from .terrain_generator import create_mesh_heightfield, create_mesh_terrain
 from .types import (