[ros-users] uvc_camera not publishing width and height on /camera_info topic

[Patrick Goebel]

Hello ROS fans,

I am trying the uvc_camera package (current git version) for the first 
time with a Logitech 9000 webcam and it appears that the width/height 
parameters I am setting in the launch file (see listing below) are not 
being published on the /camera_info topic which just show 0 for both. 
The /camera_info messages are definitely updating as evidenced by the 
incrementing seq numbers and time stamps.  And the /image_raw topic is 
working as I can verify using image_view.

I am using the latest C Turtle debian packages on Ubuntu 10.04.

When I execute my launch file, I get the following error at the end of 
the list of camera properties:

unable to set control: Input/output error
ERROR: could not set some settings.
  unable to set control
select timeout in grab

Note that my user name is part of the video group and just to be sure, I 
set permissions on /dev/video3 (the Logitech webcam) to 777.

I get the same error if I try a Philips SPC1300 USB cam or the built-in 
USB cam on my laptop.  The launch file I am using is:

<launch>
   <node pkg="uvc_camera" type="camera_node" name="uvc_camera" 
output="screen">
     <param name="width" type="int" value="640" />
     <param name="height" type="int" value="480" />
     <param name="frame" type="string" value="head_camera" />
     <param name="device" type="string" value="/dev/video3" />
   </node>
</launch>

A typical message from 'rostopic echo /camera_info' looks like this:

header:
   seq: 2323
   stamp:
     secs: 1292712061
     nsecs: 161250408
   frame_id: camera
height: 0
width: 0
roi:
   x_offset: 0
   y_offset: 0
   height: 0
   width: 0
D: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
K: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
R: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
P: [0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0]
---

where I would have expected height: 480 and width: 640 instead of 0.

And the full output from the launch file looks like this for the 
Logitech camera:

process[uvc_camera-1]: started with pid [6511]
opening /dev/video3
pixfmt 0 = 'MJPG' desc = 'MJPEG'
   discrete: 160x120:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 176x144:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 320x240:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 352x288:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 640x480:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 800x600:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 960x720:   1/15 1/10 1/5
pixfmt 1 = 'YUYV' desc = 'YUV 4:2:2 (YUYV)'
   discrete: 160x120:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 176x144:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 320x240:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 352x288:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 640x480:   1/30 1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 800x600:   1/25 1/20 1/15 1/10 1/5
   discrete: 960x720:   1/10 1/5
   discrete: 1600x1200:   1/5
   int (Brightness, 0, id = 980900): 0 to 255 (1)
   int (Contrast, 0, id = 980901): 0 to 255 (1)
   int (Saturation, 0, id = 980902): 0 to 255 (1)
   bool (White Balance Temperature, Auto, 0, id = 98090c): 0 to 1 (1)
   int (Gain, 0, id = 980913): 0 to 255 (1)
   menu (Power Line Frequency, 0, id = 980918): 0 to 2 (1)
     0: Disabled
     1: 50 Hz
     2: 60 Hz
   int (White Balance Temperature, 0, id = 98091a): 0 to 10000 (10)
   int (Sharpness, 0, id = 98091b): 0 to 255 (1)
   int (Backlight Compensation, 0, id = 98091c): 0 to 2 (1)
   menu (Exposure, Auto, 0, id = 9a0901): 0 to 3 (1)
     0: Auto Mode
     1: Manual Mode
     2: Shutter Priority Mode
     3: Aperture Priority Mode
   int (Exposure (Absolute), 0, id = 9a0902): 1 to 10000 (1)
   bool (Exposure, Auto Priority, 0, id = 9a0903): 0 to 1 (1)
current value of 10094851 is 1
current value of 10094849 is 1
current value of 9963776 is 128
current value of 9963777 is 32
current value of 9963788 is 1
current value of 9963802 is 0
unable to set control: Input/output error
ERROR: could not set some settings.
  unable to set control
select timeout in grab
select timeout in grab
select timeout in grab

Patrick Goebel
Behavioral Sciences
Stanford University