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

[Jack O'Quin]

On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 5:33 PM, Eric Perko <wisesage5001 at gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 6:03 PM, Bill Morris <morris at ee.ccny.cuny.edu> wrote:
>>
>> On Mon, 2011-06-06 at 14:53 -0700, Patrick Mihelich wrote:
>> > On Mon, Jun 6, 2011 at 2:26 PM, Bill Morris <morris at ee.ccny.cuny.edu>
>> > wrote:
>> >         > > I would like to see a system for storing camera
>> >         calibrations based on
>> >
>> >         > The camera_info_manager URL supports any naming scheme
>> >         desired.
>> >
>> >
>> > In the unstable version of the OpenNI (Kinect) drivers, I've tried out
>> > a system for storing calibrations based on serial number. You can pass
>> > in a URL containing "%s", and the driver replaces that with the camera
>> > name. The camera name is of the form "[rgb|depth]_[serial#]". For
>> > example, if you give the driver a URL "/tmp/calibration_%s.yaml" it
>> > might expand to "/tmp/calibration_depth_B00362708888047B.yaml". This
>> > makes working with multiple Kinects a lot easier.
>>
>> That reminds me that in testing I found that the calibrations are
>> different at different resolutions and frame rates.
>>
>> At least one Logitech camera has a "feature" that it changes it's FOV at
>> different frame rates.
>>
>> So something like this may be more appropriate
>> ~/.ros/calibration/usb_camera-046d08210001-640x480 at 30.yaml
>
> This sounds like a motivation for adding more substitution args to the URL.
> For example, "/tmp/calibration_$NAME_$RESOLUTION_$FRAMERATE.yaml". However,
> I feel like this could expand quickly (for example, what about some value
> for focus for variable focus cameras?), so it could get tricky unless there
> is a small set of parameters that influence when we can use a given
> calibration or not. Remember that for each of these substitution args, we
> would have to add a getter/setter function to the camera_info_manager API.
> For those cameras that change FOV based on framerate, can the FOV value be
> read out? Seems like framerate in general shouldn't affect when you can use
> a given calibration, so it would be better to record the FOV itself. And
> obviously none of this really helps with things like PointGrey firewire
> cameras that have separate lenses that can be manually adjusted for things
> like focus, so we need to not break those use cases of camera_info_manager.
> So is there a small set of parameters that determine when a calibration is
> valid? If so, what are they?

We can gradually add substitution variables as their usefulness is
demonstrated. Resolution is easy to justify. Frame rate may be too
specific to one camera model to justify a general solution.

Things like Focus and Zoom are worth considering if anyone can come up
with reasonable device-independent encodings.

> As far as changing the default directory to $ROS_HOME from /tmp, that seems
> fine with me. We do still need to preserve the setting of a directory from
> launch files - for example, I would probably set my directories up like
> "$(find
> my_robot_configuration_package)/camera_calibrations/$NAME/$RESOLUTION.yaml"
> and keep that checked into my VCS. Let's not "streamline away" a feature
> that some people (like myself) actually like :)

I also find it helpful to store calibration files in SVN. The
"package://my_robot_configuration_package/..." syntax is useful for
that. That should work fine with the substitution variables proposed.


There have been several good suggestions today for extending the
camera_info_manager URL in useful ways. To get them into Electric
Emys, we need to have an API review right away and get these ideas
nailed down. I will go ahead with that, unless there are objections.
-- 
 joq