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FoundationPose Deployment - Current Status
Last Updated: 2026-01-28
Repository: /Users/georgpuschel/repos/robot-ml/foundationpose/
Hugging Face Space: https://huggingface.co/spaces/gpue/foundationpose
📦 What's Been Completed
Core Files Created
app.py (570 lines)
- Complete Gradio application with ZeroGPU integration
- Dual mode: Placeholder (default) and Real FoundationPose
- REST API endpoints:
/api/initializeand/api/estimate - Web UI with tabs for initialization, estimation, and API docs
- Environment variable
USE_REAL_MODELcontrols mode
estimator.py (350+ lines)
- FoundationPoseEstimator class wrapping the real FoundationPose API
- Methods:
register_object(),estimate_pose(),reset_tracking() - Handles camera intrinsics, depth images, and segmentation masks
- Quaternion and rotation matrix conversions
- Mesh loading and reconstruction (placeholder for BundleSDF)
client.py (200+ lines)
- Python client for calling the API from robot-ml
- FoundationPoseClient class with initialize() and estimate_pose()
- Image encoding/decoding utilities
- Example usage code
requirements.txt
- Core dependencies: gradio, spaces, torch, opencv-python
- 3D vision: trimesh, pyrender, scikit-image
- Placeholder for FoundationPose installation
Dockerfile
- CUDA 12.1 base image
- System dependencies (eigen3, OpenGL, etc.)
- FoundationPose repository clone and build
- NVDiffRast, Kaolin, PyTorch3D installation
download_weights.py
- Script to check for and download model weights
- Instructions for manual weight setup
- Git-LFS integration guide
deploy.sh
- Interactive deployment script
- Checks for weights and git status
- Offers placeholder vs real mode deployment
- Guides through git-lfs setup
Documentation
- README.md (updated with full details)
- DEPLOYMENT.md (step-by-step deployment guide)
- QUICKSTART.md (quick start for both modes)
- STATUS.md (this file)
.gitignore
- Python cache files
- Virtual environments
- Model weights (for git-lfs)
- Test images
🎯 How It Works
Placeholder Mode (Default)
- Purpose: API testing without GPU requirements
- Behavior: Returns empty pose results with success=true
- Use Cases:
- Developing client integrations
- Testing API structure
- Demos without GPU costs
Real Mode (Requires Setup)
- Purpose: Actual 6D pose estimation
- Requirements:
- Model weights in
weights/directory - FoundationPose repository cloned
- Environment variable
USE_REAL_MODEL=true
- Model weights in
- Behavior: Uses actual FoundationPose inference
- Use Cases:
- Production pose estimation
- Validation and testing with real data
- Integration with robot-ml training
🚀 Deployment Options
Option 1: Test Locally (Placeholder)
cd foundationpose
pip install -r requirements.txt
python app.py
# Visit http://localhost:7860
Option 2: Deploy to HF (Placeholder)
./deploy.sh
# Or manually:
git add .
git commit -m "Deploy FoundationPose Space"
git push origin main
Option 3: Deploy to HF (Real Mode)
Requirements:
- Download weights from Google Drive
- Set up git-lfs
- Enable USE_REAL_MODEL=true
Steps:
# 1. Download weights (manual step)
# Visit: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GCyGE-LbFGgRC-FuGsF3a1zeBuzsQ1Da
# Extract to: weights/2023-10-28-18-33-37/ and weights/2024-01-11-20-02-45/
# 2. Set up git-lfs
git lfs install
git lfs track "weights/**"
git add .gitattributes
# 3. Add weights
git add weights/
git commit -m "Add model weights"
# 4. Deploy
git push origin main
# 5. Set Space secret: USE_REAL_MODEL=true
🔗 Integration with robot-ml
Update FoundationPose Wrapper
Edit /training/nova_sim_trainer/perception/foundation_pose_wrapper.py:
from foundationpose.client import FoundationPoseClient
from pathlib import Path
import cv2
class FoundationPoseWrapper(PoseEstimator):
def __init__(self, api_url: str, tracked_objects: List[Dict], **kwargs):
super().__init__()
self.client = FoundationPoseClient(api_url)
self.object_ids = []
# Initialize each tracked object
for obj_config in tracked_objects:
if not obj_config.get("enabled", True):
continue
object_id = obj_config["object_id"]
ref_dir = Path(obj_config["reference_images_dir"])
# Load reference images
ref_images = []
for img_path in sorted(ref_dir.glob("*.jpg")):
img = cv2.imread(str(img_path))
img = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2RGB)
ref_images.append(img)
# Register object with API
logger.info(f"Registering {object_id} with {len(ref_images)} images...")
self.client.initialize(object_id, ref_images)
self.object_ids.append(object_id)
def estimate_poses(self, frame, camera_intrinsics, scene_objects):
detected_poses = []
for object_id in self.object_ids:
poses = self.client.estimate_pose(object_id, frame, camera_intrinsics)
for pose in poses:
detected_poses.append(DetectedPose(
object_id=pose["object_id"],
position=pose["position"],
orientation=pose["orientation"],
confidence=pose["confidence"],
timestamp=0.0,
dimensions=tuple(pose.get("dimensions", [0.1, 0.1, 0.1]))
))
return detected_poses
Update Configuration
Edit /training/observations.yaml:
perception:
enabled: true
model: foundation_pose
api_url: https://gpue-foundationpose.hf.space # Your deployed Space URL
camera: aux_top
inference_fps: 5
tracked_objects:
- object_id: target_cube
scene_object_name: t_object
enabled: true
reference_images_dir: ./perception/reference/target_cube
dimensions: [0.1, 0.1, 0.1]
⚠️ What's NOT Done Yet
Missing Pieces
Model Weights
- Not included in repo (too large)
- Must be downloaded manually
- Requires git-lfs setup
FoundationPose Repository
- Not included (git submodule or clone needed)
- C++ extensions need to be built
- Tested only with placeholder code
BundleSDF Integration
- Mesh reconstruction not implemented
- Currently uses placeholder cube mesh
- Needed for model-free mode
Segmentation
- Object segmentation uses placeholder mask
- Should integrate SAM (Segment Anything Model)
- Optional but improves accuracy
Pose Visualization
- Estimation results don't show overlays yet
- TODO: Render detected pose on query image
- Would improve debugging
Testing Status
- ✅ Placeholder mode tested locally
- ⚠️ Real mode NOT tested (no weights)
- ⚠️ API integration NOT tested end-to-end
- ⚠️ ZeroGPU behavior unknown (not deployed yet)
📊 Performance Expectations
ZeroGPU Characteristics
- Cold Start: 15-30 seconds (GPU allocation + model loading)
- Warm Inference: 0.5-2 seconds per query
- Free Tier: Limited monthly usage
- Timeout: GPU allocation lasts for duration specified in decorator
robot-ml Training Integration
Not suitable for real-time training loop (30 Hz):
- 5 Hz perception requires 200ms per frame
- ZeroGPU latency: 500ms-2s warm, 15-30s cold
- ❌ Too slow for synchronous training
Suitable for:
- ✅ Batch processing recorded episodes
- ✅ Validation and testing
- ✅ Demos and visualization
- ✅ Reference data collection
Recommendation:
- Use dummy estimator during training (reads ground truth from sim)
- Use FoundationPose API for validation/testing only
- Consider local GPU deployment for production
📝 Next Steps
Immediate (Before Deployment)
Test Locally
cd foundationpose python app.py # Test UI at http://localhost:7860Deploy Placeholder Mode
./deploy.sh # Choose "N" for real modeVerify Space Works
- Visit https://huggingface.co/spaces/gpue/foundationpose
- Test initialization with test images
- Check logs for errors
Short Term (With Weights)
Download Model Weights
- Get from Google Drive (see DEPLOYMENT.md)
- Extract to
weights/directory
Test Real Mode Locally
export USE_REAL_MODEL=true python app.py # Upload real reference images # Test pose estimationDeploy Real Mode
# Set up git-lfs git lfs track "weights/**" git add .gitattributes weights/ git commit -m "Add model weights" git push # Set Space secret: USE_REAL_MODEL=true
Long Term (Production)
Optimize Performance
- Implement batch inference
- Add caching for frequently used objects
- Tune GPU duration parameters
Improve Accuracy
- Integrate SAM for segmentation
- Add depth image support
- Implement BundleSDF reconstruction
Production Deployment
- Consider dedicated GPU (RunPod, Modal, etc.)
- Set up monitoring and logging
- Implement retry logic and error handling
📚 Reference Links
- FoundationPose GitHub: https://github.com/NVlabs/FoundationPose
- Research Paper: https://arxiv.org/abs/2312.08344
- Model Weights: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1GCyGE-LbFGgRC-FuGsF3a1zeBuzsQ1Da
- HF Spaces Docs: https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/spaces
- ZeroGPU Docs: https://huggingface.co/docs/hub/spaces-gpus-zerogpu
- Gradio Docs: https://www.gradio.app/docs
🤝 Citation
If you use this in your work:
@inproceedings{wen2023foundationpose,
title={FoundationPose: Unified 6D Pose Estimation and Tracking of Novel Objects},
author={Wen, Bowen and Yang, Wei and Kautz, Jan and Birchfield, Stan},
booktitle={CVPR},
year={2024}
}
Summary: The FoundationPose Space is fully set up and ready to deploy. It defaults to placeholder mode (no GPU needed) for testing the API structure. To enable real pose estimation, you need to manually download the model weights and set USE_REAL_MODEL=true. The integration code for robot-ml is ready but untested without the actual weights.