Using Dataset Tools

This guide covers the dataset tools utilities available in LeRobot for modifying and editing existing datasets.

Overview

LeRobot provides several utilities for manipulating datasets:

1. Delete Episodes - Remove specific episodes from a dataset
2. Split Dataset - Divide a dataset into multiple smaller datasets
3. Merge Datasets - Combine multiple datasets into one. The datasets must have identical features, and episodes are concatenated in the order specified in repo_ids
4. Add Features - Add new features to a dataset
5. Remove Features - Remove features from a dataset

The core implementation is in lerobot.datasets.dataset_tools. An example script detailing how to use the tools API is available in examples/dataset/use_dataset_tools.py.

Command-Line Tool: lerobot-edit-dataset

lerobot-edit-dataset is a command-line script for editing datasets. It can be used to delete episodes, split datasets, merge datasets, add features, and remove features.

Run lerobot-edit-dataset --help for more information on the configuration of each operation.

Usage Examples

Delete Episodes

Remove specific episodes from a dataset. This is useful for filtering out undesired data.

# Delete episodes 0, 2, and 5 (modifies original dataset)
lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht \
    --operation.type delete_episodes \
    --operation.episode_indices "[0, 2, 5]"

# Delete episodes and save to a new dataset (preserves original dataset)
lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht \
    --new_repo_id lerobot/pusht_after_deletion \
    --operation.type delete_episodes \
    --operation.episode_indices "[0, 2, 5]"

Split Dataset

Divide a dataset into multiple subsets.

# Split by fractions (e.g. 80% train, 20% test, 20% val)
lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht \
    --operation.type split \
    --operation.splits '{"train": 0.8, "test": 0.2, "val": 0.2}'

# Split by specific episode indices
lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht \
    --operation.type split \
    --operation.splits '{"task1": [0, 1, 2, 3], "task2": [4, 5]}'

There are no constraints on the split names, they can be determined by the user. Resulting datasets are saved under the repo id with the split name appended, e.g. lerobot/pusht_train, lerobot/pusht_task1, lerobot/pusht_task2.

Merge Datasets

Combine multiple datasets into a single dataset.

# Merge train and validation splits back into one dataset
lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht_merged \
    --operation.type merge \
    --operation.repo_ids "['lerobot/pusht_train', 'lerobot/pusht_val']"

Remove Features

Remove features from a dataset.

# Remove a camera feature
lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht \
    --operation.type remove_feature \
    --operation.feature_names "['observation.images.top']"

Push to Hub

Add the --push_to_hub flag to any command to automatically upload the resulting dataset to the Hugging Face Hub:

lerobot-edit-dataset \
    --repo_id lerobot/pusht \
    --new_repo_id lerobot/pusht_after_deletion \
    --operation.type delete_episodes \
    --operation.episode_indices "[0, 2, 5]" \
    --push_to_hub

There is also a tool for adding features to a dataset that is not yet covered in lerobot-edit-dataset.