[TOC]

ROS package for Sony cameras using Sony Remote API.

Includes the sony_cam_node.py which provides camera's output, and some scripts to test this node.

The Sony camera QX1 provides images with very good quality, so making a ROS node to use this camera(and all the other cameras supported by the Sony Remote API) will be useful for object recognition and face recognition purposes for robotic applications.

A working installation of ROS must be installed, before building and running this package.

Install ROS, see: http://wiki.ros.org/indigo/Installation/Ubuntu

Then set up the ROS environment, see: http://wiki.ros.org/ROS/Tutorials/InstallingandConfiguringROSEnvironment

You may also need to install:

• ros-<distro>-image-transport-plugins
• ros-<distro>-image-view

to visualize images.

To setup pysony module, get the pysony repo with:

$ git clone git@github.com:Bloodevil/sony_camera_api.git

Then add the path of the module to the PYTHONPATH variable, with:

export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:/<download>/<path>/sony_camera_api/src"

Append this to the .bashrc file.

Note: pysony release 0.1.11, will not work with this program.

Use the following commands to get and build the ROS node:

$ git clone git@github.com:arcoslab/ros_sony_cam.git
$ cd ros_sony_cam/
$ catkin_make

Then append the following command to .bashrc file:

source /<full>/<path>/devel/setup.bash

Connect to camera's wireless access point with the password given on the camera's battery lid and then we may run the launch file, pic_liveview_test, to see the camera's output, liveview (low quality images) and high quality photos.

$ roslaunch sony_cam pic_liveview_test.launch

When running with the roslaunch program it is hard to find errors in the setup.

You may perform the roslaunch tasks manually.

First, launch roscore:

$ roscore

Then in another terminal, launch main node:

$ rosrun sony_cam sony_cam_node.py

Open another terminal and run the following command to visualize low quality images with the image_view package:

$ rosrun image_view image_view image:=/liveview _image_transport:=compressed

The HD pictures are taken on request basis, so you need to launch the client_test.py node, which instructs the main node to take HD pictures.

$ rosrun sony_cam client_test.py

Then launch another image_view instance, to visualize the HD pictures:

$ rosrun image_view image_view image:=/hdpicture _image_transport:=compressed

The camera sends repeatedly, jpeg pictures of low quality, these are published in liveview/compressed topic, as CompressedImage type messages.

To obtain a high quality picture, make a request to service sony_cam/request_image, with a service of the type GetPolledImage, then the image will be published in hdpicture/compressed topic, as CompressedImage type messages. One service request must be made for every picture.

Modify the following constants in sony_cam_node.py to set time limit for specific tasks:

• TIMEOUT_TAKEPIC
• TIMEOUT_FINDCAM
• TIMEOUT_GETLIVEVIEW

See client_test.py to learn how to use the service image request.

GPLv3, see http://www.gnu.org/licenses/

Alexander Marin Drobinoga alexanderm2230@gmail.com