Configure a Join Color Depth View

Combine the streams of a color and a depth camera already registered in your config to create a view that outputs the combined and aligned image.

This specific model is good if you don’t need to align the streams. If you need to adjust the alignment between the depth and color frames, use the align_color_depth_extrinsics model or thealign_color_depth_homography model.

Navigate to the Config tab of your robot’s page in the Viam app. Click on the Components subtab and click Create component. Select the camera type, then select the join_color_depth model. Enter a name for your camera and click Create.

Configuration of a join color depth view in the Viam app config builder.

Edit and fill in the attributes as applicable.

{
    "name": "<your-camera-name>",
    "type": "camera",
    "model" : "join_color_depth",
    "attributes": {
        "output_image_type": "<color|depth>",
        "color_camera_name": "<your-camera-name>",
        "depth_camera_name": "<your-camera-name>",
        "intrinsic_parameters": {
          "width_px": <int>, # the expected width of the aligned pic
          "height_px": <int>, # the expected height of the aligned pic
          "fx": <float>,
          "fy": <float>,
          "ppx": <float>,
          "ppy": <float>
        },
        "distortion_parameters": {
          "rk1": <float>,
          "rk2": <float>,
          "rk3": <float>,
          "tp1": <float>,
          "tp2": <float>
        },
        "debug": <boolean>
    }
}

The following attributes are available for join_color_depth views:

NameTypeInclusionDescription
output_image_typestringRequiredSpecify color or depth for the output stream.
color_camera_namestringRequiredname of the color camera to pull images from.
depth_camera_namestringRequiredname of the depth camera to pull images from.
intrinsic_parametersobjectRequiredThe intrinsic parameters of the camera used to do 2D <-> 3D projections:
  • width_px: The expected width of the aligned image in pixels.
  • height_px: The expected height of the aligned image in pixels.
  • fx: The image center x point.
  • fy: The image center y point.
  • ppx: The image focal x.
  • ppy: The image focal y.
distortion_parametersobjectOptionalModified Brown-Conrady parameters used to correct for distortions caused by the shape of the camera lens:
  • rk1: The radial distortion x.
  • rk2: The radial distortion y.
  • rk3: The radial distortion z.
  • tp1: The tangential distortion x.
  • tp2: The tangential distortion y.
debugbooleanOptionalEnables the debug outputs from the camera if true.
Default: false.

View the camera stream

Once your camera is configured and connected, go to the Control tab, and click on the camera’s dropdown menu. Then toggle the camera or the Point Cloud Data view to ON. If everything is configured correctly, you will see the live video feed from your camera. You can change the refresh frequency as needed to change bandwidth.

Example Camera view inside Viam app

Next Steps

Calibrate a Camera

Calibrate a camera and extract the intrinsic and distortion parameters.

transform

Instructions for transforming a camera.

Vision
Vision

The vision service enables your smart machine to use its on-board cameras to intelligently see and interpret the world around it.



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