Overview

Image collection is done on any computer running Linux on the drone. Image collection accesses the camera in the same manner as the airside system.

Repository:

Software

Follow the instructions to clone the repository and activate the environment: Autonomy Workflow Software

Install packages:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Prerequisites:

The username and home directory of the computer used is warg
- If it is not, change the username and home directory: https://www.serverlab.ca/tutorials/linux/administration-linux/how-to-rename-linux-users-and-their-home-directory/

Update the repository by running:

git checkout main
git pull
git submodule update --remote --merge

Copy the contents of rc.local.copyme to /etc/rc.local .

Collecting images:

Connect the camera to the computer
Power on the computer:
1. If camera is not connected, image collection fails to start. Power off the computer and go to step 1
2. Image collection is automatically run on startup through the /etc/rc.local file
Collect images by pointing the camera towards the object(s) of interest
Power off the computer

Accessing images:

clone the repository or update it as normal (same as USB Camera)

DO NOT activate a virtual environment: you actually want to deactivate it before you run this script.

The picamera2 library is pre-installed on PiOS, and it is not encouraged to install it using pip: https://datasheets.raspberrypi.com/camera/picamera2-manual.pdf. Hence, we will use the pre-installed library instead.

Option A: Run the script manually

python picam.py

Option B: Run the script from startup using /etc/rc.local.

Add the following line to /etc/rc.local (starts the image capturing in the background):

python picam.py &