SDK Stream Camera Class

class Camera

Main class for the camera interface.

Public Functions

Camera()

Constructor.

Creates an uninitialized camera instance.

Camera(const Camera &camera) = delete

Copy constructor.

A Camera object can not be copy-constructed, but it can be move-constructed.

Camera(Camera &&camera)

Move constructor.

A Camera can not be copied, but it can be move-constructed from another instance.

Camera &operator=(const Camera &camera) = delete

Copy assignment.

A Camera object can not be copy-assigned, but it can be move-assigned.

See also

Camera & operator=(Camera &&camera);

Camera &operator=(Camera &&camera)

Move assignment.

A Camera can not be copied, but it can be move-assigned from another instance.

~Camera()

Destructor.

template<typename FacilityType>
inline FacilityType &get_facility()

Returns facility.

template<typename FacilityType>
inline const FacilityType &get_facility() const

Returns facility.

RawData &raw_data()

Gets class to handle RAW data from the camera.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

CD &cd()

Gets class to handle CD events.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

ExtTrigger &ext_trigger()

Gets class to handle External Triggers events.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

ERCCounter &erc_counter()

Gets class to handle ERCCounter events.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

FrameHisto &frame_histo()

Gets class to handle RawEventFrameHisto.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

FrameDiff &frame_diff()

Gets class to handle RawEventFrameDiff.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

CallbackId add_runtime_error_callback(RuntimeErrorCallback error_callback)

Registers a callback that will be called when a runtime error occurs.

When a camera runtime error occurs, the camera thread is left and events are no longer sent. You are notified by this callback whenever this happens.

See also

RuntimeErrorCallback

Warning

It is forbidden to call the stop from a runtime error callback.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

Parameters

error_callback – The error callback to call

Returns

ID of the added callback

bool remove_runtime_error_callback(CallbackId callback_id)

Removes a previously registered callback.

See also

CD::add_callback

Parameters

callback_id – Callback ID

Returns

true if the callback has been unregistered correctly, false otherwise.

CallbackId add_status_change_callback(StatusChangeCallback status_change_callback)

Registers a callback that will be called when the camera status changes.

The callback will be called with the new status of the Camera as a parameter, when the camera is started or stopped (by a call to stop or when no more events are available in a recording).

See also

StatusChangeCallback

Warning

It is forbidden to call the stop from the status callback.

Parameters

status_change_callback – The status change callback to call

Returns

ID of the added callback

bool remove_status_change_callback(CallbackId callback_id)

Removes a previously registered callback.

Parameters

callback_id – Callback ID

Returns

true if the callback has been unregistered correctly, false otherwise.

OfflineStreamingControl &offline_streaming_control()

Gets class to control offline streaming.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized or if the feature is not available.

const I_Geometry &geometry() const

Gets the device’s geometry.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

const CameraGeneration &generation() const

Gets the device’s generation.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

bool start()

Starts the camera from the given input source.

It will start polling events from the source and calling specified events callbacks.

It has no effect if the start function has been already called and not the stop function.

See also

CD::add_callback

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

Returns

true if the camera started successfully, false otherwise. Also returns false, if the camera is already started.

bool is_running()

Checks if the camera is running or there are data remaining from an offline source.

If the source is online, it always returns true unless the stop function has been called.

If the input is offline (from a file), it returns false whenever no data are remaining in the input file.

Returns

true if the camera is running or there are data remaining from an offline source, false otherwise.

bool stop()

Stops polling events from the camera or from the file.

Stops ongoing streaming.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

Returns

true if the camera instance has been stopped successfully, false otherwise. If the camera was not running, this function returns false.

bool start_recording(const std::filesystem::path &file_path)

Records data from camera to a file at the specified path.

The function creates a new file at the given file_path or overwrites the already existing file.

In case of an offline input source, the function can be used to split the file and record only a portion of it.

Note

This functions is the recommended way to save recording with SDK Stream. It uses a separate thread to write the file for efficiency, so it will not slow down the decoding thread as opposed to I_EventsStream::log_raw_data and I_EventsStream::stop_log_raw_data It also enables writing to supported formats other than RAW file, although the writing speed will probably decrease for those formats It can also be called several times with different paths to record the stream to multiple files at the same time

Note

For more control over the way the data is recorded and to select with precision which events will be recorded, you may directly use the API provided by EventFileWriter and its inherited classes For more information, refer to the metavision_file_cutter sample

Warning

Calling this function will overwrite the file at the path file_path if it already exists.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

Parameters

file_path – Path to the file containing the recorded data

Returns

true if recording could be started, false otherwise

bool stop_recording(const std::filesystem::path &file_path = std::string())

Stops recording data from camera to the specified path.

This function stops recording data to the file at the given file_path.

If the file_path is empty, all recordings of the current camera stream are stopped.

Parameters

file_path – Path to the file containing the recorded data. If empty, all ongoing recordings are stopped.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera has not been initialized.

Returns

true if recording could be stopped, false otherwise

const CameraConfiguration &get_camera_configuration() const

Returns CameraConfiguration of the camera that holds the available camera properties (serial, systemID, format of events, etc.)

Read-only structure.

const std::unordered_map<std::string, std::string> &get_metadata_map() const

Returns a dictionary of the camera metadata if available (e.g from a file which contains manually added comments)

Read-only structure.

timestamp get_last_timestamp() const

Gets the last decoded timestamp.

Warning

If no event decoding callback has been set, this functions returns -1

Returns

timestamp Last decoded timestamp

bool save(const std::filesystem::path &path) const

Saves the camera settings to a given file.

Parameters

path – The path of the file to save the camera settings to

Returns

true on success

bool load(const std::filesystem::path &path)

Loads the camera settings from a given file.

Parameters

path – The path of the file to load the camera settings from

Returns

true on success

Device &get_device()

Gets corresponding Device in HAL library.

This Device retrieved can then be used to call the different facilities of the camera. for example: camera.get_device()->get_facility<Metavision::I_TriggerIn>()->enable(channel_id) or: camera.get_device()->get_facility<Metavision::I_Monitoring>()->get_temperature())

Returns

The Device used internally by the class Camera

const Device &get_device() const

Gets corresponding Device in HAL library.

This Device retrieved can then be used to call the different facilities of the camera. for example: camera.get_device()->get_facility<Metavision::I_TriggerIn>()->enable(channel_id) or: camera.get_device()->get_facility<Metavision::I_Monitoring>()->get_temperature())

Returns

The Device used internally by the class Camera

Private &get_pimpl()

For internal use.

Camera(Private*)

For internal use.

Public Static Functions

static AvailableSourcesList list_online_sources()

Lists available sources for the online mode.

Returns

AvailableSourcesList structure containing available cameras (plugged on the system) along with their serial numbers.

static Camera from_first_available()

Initializes a camera instance from the first available camera plugged on the system.

Open the first available camera following at first EMBEDDED and then USB order.

Please note that remote cameras will not be opened with this function. To do that, please specify the OnlineSourceType and use the from_source function, or else specify the serial number and use the from_serial function.

Serial numbers and types of available sources can be found with list_online_sources function.

Throws

CameraException – in case of initialization failure.

static Camera from_first_available(const DeviceConfig &config)

Initializes a camera instance from the first available camera plugged on the system.

Open the first available camera following at first EMBEDDED and then USB order.

Please note that remote cameras will not be opened with this function. To do that, please specify the OnlineSourceType and use the from_source function, or else specify the serial number and use the from_serial function.

Serial numbers and types of available sources can be found with list_online_sources function.

Throws

CameraException – in case of initialization failure.

Parameters

config – Configuration used to open the camera This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

static Camera from_source(OnlineSourceType input_source_type, uint32_t source_index = 0)

Initializes a camera instance from an OnlineSourceType and a source index.

Open the source_index camera of online input_source_type if available from list_online_sources.

By default, it opens the first available camera listed by list_online_sources of type input_source_type.

Serial numbers and types of available sources can be found with list_online_sources function.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera corresponding to the input source type and the source index has not been found.

Parameters
  • input_source_typeOnlineSourceType

  • source_index – Index of the source in the list of available online sources

Returns

Camera instance initialized from the source

static Camera from_source(OnlineSourceType input_source_type, const DeviceConfig &config, uint32_t source_index = 0)

Initializes a camera instance from an OnlineSourceType and a source index.

Open the source_index camera of online input_source_type if available from list_online_sources.

By default, it opens the first available camera listed by list_online_sources of type input_source_type.

Serial numbers and types of available sources can be found with list_online_sources function.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera corresponding to the input source type and the source index has not been found.

Parameters
  • input_source_typeOnlineSourceType

  • config – Configuration used to open the camera

  • source_index – Index of the source in the list of available online sources

Returns

Camera instance initialized from the source This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

static Camera from_serial(const std::string &serial)

Initializes a camera instance from a ‘serial’ number.

Serial numbers of available sources can be found by with list_online_sources function.

If ‘serial’ is an empty string, the function works as the main constructor.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera with the input serial number has not been found.

Parameters

serial – Serial number of the camera

Returns

Camera instance initialized from the serial number

static Camera from_serial(const std::string &serial, const DeviceConfig &config)

Initializes a camera instance from a ‘serial’ number.

Throws

CameraException – if the camera with the input serial number has not been found.

Parameters
  • serial – Serial number of the camera

  • config – Configuration used to open the camera

Returns

Camera instance initialized from the serial number This is an overloaded member function, provided for convenience. It differs from the above function only in what argument(s) it accepts.

static Camera from_file(const std::filesystem::path &file_path, const FileConfigHints &hints = FileConfigHints())

Initializes a camera instance from a file.

Throws

CameraException – in case of initialization failure.

Parameters
  • file_path – Path to the file

  • hints – Hints expressing how the file should be read, for more details see FileConfigHints

Returns

Camera instance initialized from the input file

enum class Metavision::OnlineSourceType : short

Online camera type input sources: USB, embedded, remote.

Values:

enumerator EMBEDDED

Data from an embedded event-based camera.

enumerator USB

Data from an USB event-based camera.

enumerator REMOTE

Data from a remote event-based camera.

enum class Metavision::CameraStatus : short

Values:

enumerator STARTED

Camera is started, see Camera::start and Camera::is_running.

enumerator STOPPED

Camera is stopped, see Camera::stop and Camera::is_running.

struct CameraConfiguration

Struct with the current camera configuration.

In case of an online source, the fields apply to the current online source. In case of an offline source, the fields correspond to the online source used to record the data.