[ros-users] call for an official ROS USB camera package

[Bill Morris]

On Sun, 2010-12-19 at 12:46 -0600, Jack O'Quin wrote: 
> I think it would help for the ROS community to support an official
> usb_camera package, like we did for camera1394. The potential user
> base is large.
> 
> There seem to be several good drivers available in various
> repositories. Paradoxically, that can make it harder for users to
> decide which to use. A combined, fully documented and reviewed
> implementation would make that easier and save time for most camera
> users.
> 
> If Eric, Ken, or someone else knowledgeable about these devices would
> be willing to do the technical work, I can help move it through the
> release review process. Maybe we could get it done in time for
> inclusion in Diamondback. Although this is late in the release cycle,
> no other core ROS components depend on it.
> 
> Even if not completely ready for the initial Diamondback distribution,
> it might make sense to release such a package later as an enhancement.

I have about 10 different USB cameras to test, and I'm willing to help
with writing code for this effort.

The only question is do we start from scratch or do we use an existing
driver?