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Configure an Ultrasonic Camera

Usage

An ultrasonic distance sensor can also be configured as a sensor resource. When configured as a sensor, you can use the sensor method GetReadings(), rather than the camera method GetPointCloud().

Configure an ultrasonic camera to integrate the HC-S204 ultrasonic distance sensor into your machine:

Navigate to the CONFIGURE tab of your machine’s page in the Viam app. Click the + icon next to your machine part in the left-hand menu and select Component. Select the camera type, then select the ultrasonic model. Enter a name or use the suggested name for your camera and click Create.

Creation of a ultrasonic camera in the Viam app config builder.

Edit the attributes as applicable to your camera, according to the table below.

{
  "components": [
    {
      "name": "<your-ultrasonic-sensor-name>",
      "model": "ultrasonic",
      "type": "camera",
      "namespace": "rdk",
      "attributes": {
        "trigger_pin": "<pin-number>",
        "echo_interrupt_pin": "<pin-number>",
        "board": "<your-board-name>",
        "timeout_ms": <int>
      },
      "depends_on": []
    }
  ]
}

{
  "components": [
    {
      "name": "my-ultrasonic-sensor",
      "model": "ultrasonic",
      "type": "camera",
      "namespace": "rdk",
      "attributes": {
        "trigger_pin": "5",
        "echo_interrupt_pin": "15",
        "board": "local",
        "timeout_ms": "1200"
      },
      "depends_on": []
    }
  ]
}

The following attributes are available for ultrasonic cameras:

Attribute	Type	Inclusion	Description
`trigger_pin`	string	Required	The pin number of the board’s GPIO pin that you have wired the ultrasonic’s trigger pin to.
`echo_interrupt_pin`	string	Required	The pin number of the pin the ultrasonic’s echo pin is wired to on the board. If you have already created a digital interrupt for this pin in the board’s configuration, use that digital interrupt’s `name` instead.
`board`	string	Required	The `name` of the board the ultrasonic is wired to.
`timeout_ms`	int	Optional	Time to wait in milliseconds before timing out of requesting to get ultrasonic distance readings. Default: `1000`.

Next steps

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