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:

GitHub - UWARG/image-collection: Collect images during flight.

Software

Setup - USB Camera

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

Install packages:

pip install -r requirements.txt

Usage - USB Camera

Prerequisites:

The username and home directory of the computer used is warg
- If it is not, change the username and home directory: How to rename Linux users and their home directory - Serverlab

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 .

Modifying /etc/rc.local requires superuser access (e.g. sudo )

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:

Disconnect all sensors
Power on the computer
Move or copy the images to be saved
Delete the images to free space for future collection

Setup - Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3

Clone the repository or update it as normal (same as USB Camera), following Autonomy Workflow Software, but please read the warning box before you do so!

When creating the virtual environment, use the --system-site-packages option to include the system libraries, or do not activate a virtual environment.

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.

Those libraries cannot be easily installed using pip and require additional steps, so we just use the provided library in global space. There are some missing dependencies when installing through pip, which causes build fail.

Usage - Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3

Option A: Run the script manually

python picam.py

The test_cam.py file can be used to test camera settings using a preview and a monitor before image collection flights.

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

Copy the picamera section of rc.local.copyme to /etc/rc.local (starts the image capturing in the background):

Make sure you don’t activate any virtual environments beforehand!

To stop it when you’re done:

Image Collection Repository