Removes protobuf upper version pin (#2726)

# Description

This PR relaxes the upper range of allowed protobuf versions so that
IsaacLab can be installed in a modern python environment without
downgrading or conflicting with modern protobuf versions.

The original reason for pinning this to <5 was apparently due to
transitive breakage in tensorboard, which also had this pinned to <5 -
so pinning this in IsaacLab itself would not be necessary if both deps
were composed together. Tensorboard has since (in Aug 2024) unpinned
this here: tensorflow/tensorboard#6888

So, the original concern should, afaict, be obviated now.

# Fixes

This should repair any case where someone wants to install IsaacLab into
a modern python environment that uses any of the Google ecosystem
(gRPC/protobuf et al) without conflict or forced down-rev'ing to older
versions (current version of protobuf is 6.31.1).

## Type of change

- Bug fix (non-breaking change which fixes an issue)

## Checklist

- [x] I have run the [`pre-commit` checks](https://pre-commit.com/) with
`./isaaclab.sh --format`
- [x] I have made corresponding changes to the documentation
- [x] My changes generate no new warnings
- [x] I have updated the changelog and the corresponding version in the
extension's `config/extension.toml` file
- [x] I have added my name to the `CONTRIBUTORS.md` or my name already
exists there

Author: kwlzn

CONTRIBUTORS.md

@@ -75,6 +75,7 @@ Guidelines for modifications:
 * Jinqi Wei
 * Johnson Sun
 * Kaixi Bao
+* Kris Wilson
 * Kourosh Darvish
 * Kousheek Chakraborty
 * Lionel Gulich

source/isaaclab_rl/config/extension.toml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [package]
 
 # Note: Semantic Versioning is used: https://semver.org/
-version = "0.1.5"
+version = "0.1.6"
 
 # Description
 title = "Isaac Lab RL"

source/isaaclab_rl/docs/CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 Changelog
 ---------
 
+0.1.6 (2025-06-26)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Fixed
+^^^^^
+
+* Relaxed upper range pin for protobuf python dependency for more permissive installation.
+
+
 0.1.5 (2025-04-11)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
@@ -9,7 +18,6 @@ Changed
 * Optimized Stable-Baselines3 wrapper ``Sb3VecEnvWrapper`` (now 4x faster) by using Numpy buffers and only logging episode and truncation information by default.
 * Upgraded minimum SB3 version to 2.6.0 and added optional dependencies for progress bar
 
-
 0.1.4 (2025-04-10)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

source/isaaclab_rl/setup.py

@@ -22,9 +22,7 @@
     "numpy",
     "torch==2.5.1",
     "torchvision>=0.14.1",  # ensure compatibility with torch 1.13.1
-    # 5.26.0 introduced a breaking change, so we restricted it for now.
-    # See issue https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorboard/issues/6808 for details.
-    "protobuf>=3.20.2, < 5.0.0",
+    "protobuf>=3.20.2,!=5.26.0",
     # configuration management
     "hydra-core",
     # data collection

source/isaaclab_tasks/config/extension.toml

@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 [package]
 
 # Note: Semantic Versioning is used: https://semver.org/
-version = "0.10.35"
+version = "0.10.36"
 
 # Description
 title = "Isaac Lab Environments"

source/isaaclab_tasks/docs/CHANGELOG.rst

@@ -1,6 +1,15 @@
 Changelog
 ---------
 
+0.10.36 (2025-06-26)
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+Fixed
+^^^^^
+
+* Relaxed upper range pin for protobuf python dependency for more permissive installation.
+
+
 0.10.35 (2025-05-22)
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 

source/isaaclab_tasks/setup.py

@@ -21,9 +21,7 @@
     "numpy",
     "torch==2.5.1",
     "torchvision>=0.14.1",  # ensure compatibility with torch 1.13.1
-    # 5.26.0 introduced a breaking change, so we restricted it for now.
-    # See issue https://github.com/tensorflow/tensorboard/issues/6808 for details.
-    "protobuf>=3.20.2, < 5.0.0",
+    "protobuf>=3.20.2,!=5.26.0",
     # basic logger
     "tensorboard",
     # automate