External trigger feature !!! (#35)

* Allowing for external trigger (without a master camera), to be used with an IMU sync out

* Cleaning up capture.cpp and adding parameter to launch files

* Increasing timeout in external trigger mode to infinite

* Updating README to add external trigger param

* Update README.md

cmaera --> camera

Author: Vikrant Shah

README.md

@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ The pre-requisites for this repo include:
 * ros-kinetic-cv-bridge
 * ros-kinetic-image-transport
 
-# Incase of x86_64 or x86_32 architecture, install the following:
-* libunwind-dev
+**Incase of x86_64 or x86_32 architecture, also install *libunwind-dev* **
 
 ```bash
 # after installing spinnaker verify that you can run your cameras with SpinView
@@ -66,6 +65,8 @@ All the parameters can be set via the launch file or via the yaml config_file.
   Should color images be used (only works on models that support color images)
 * ~exposure_time (int, default: 0, 0:auto)  
   Exposure setting for cameras, also available as dynamic reconfiguarble parameter.
+  * ~external_trigger (bool, default: false)  
+  Camera triggering setting when using an external trigger.  In this mode, none of the cameras would be set as a master camera. All cameras are setup to use external trigger.  In this mode the main loop runs at rate set by soft_framerate, so if the external trigger rate is higher than the soft_framerate, the buffer will get filled and images will have a lag. Also in this mode, the getnextimage timeout is set to infinite so that the node dosen't die if a trigger is not received for a while.
 * ~target_grey_value (double, default: 0 , 0:Continous/auto)
   Setting target_grey_value > 4 (min:4 , max:99) will turn AutoExposureTargetGreyValueAuto to 'off' and set AutoExposureTargetGreyValue to target_grey_value. Also available as dynamic reconfigurable parameter. see below in Dynamic reconfigurable parameter section.
 * ~frames (int, default: 50)  
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ All the parameters can be set via the launch file or via the yaml config_file.
   Flag whether images should be saved or not (via opencv mat objects to disk)
 * ~save_path (string, default: "\~/projects/data")  
   Location to save the image data
-* \~save_type (string, default: "bmp")  
+* ~save_type (string, default: "bmp")  
   Type of file type to save to when saving images locally: binary, tiff, bmp, jpeg etc.
 * ~soft_framerate (int, default: 20)  
   When hybrid software triggering is used, this controls the FPS, 0=as fast as possible

include/spinnaker_sdk_camera_driver/camera.h

@@ -63,6 +63,7 @@ namespace acquisition {
         void make_master() { MASTER_ = true; ROS_DEBUG_STREAM( "camera " << get_id() << " set as master"); }
         bool is_master() { return MASTER_; }
         void set_color(bool flag) { COLOR_ = flag; }
+        void setGetNextImageTimeout(uint64_t get_next_image_timeout) { GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_ = get_next_image_timeout; }
 
     private:
 

include/spinnaker_sdk_camera_driver/capture.h

@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ namespace acquisition {
         void deinit_cameras();
         void acquire_mat_images(int);
         void run();
+        void run_external_trig();
         void run_soft_trig();
         void run_mt();
         void publish_to_ros(int, char**, float);
@@ -113,6 +114,7 @@ namespace acquisition {
         bool FIXED_NUM_FRAMES_;
         bool TIME_BENCHMARK_;
         bool MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_;
+        bool EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_;
         bool SAVE_;
         bool SAVE_BIN_;
         bool MANUAL_TRIGGER_;
@@ -124,6 +126,7 @@ namespace acquisition {
         bool EXPORT_TO_ROS_;
         bool MAX_RATE_SAVE_;
         bool PUBLISH_CAM_INFO_;
+        uint64_t SPINNAKER_GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_;
 
         // grid view related variables
         bool GRID_CREATED_;

launch/acquisition.launch

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   <arg name="binning"		    default="1"	doc="Binning for cameras, when changing from 2 to 1 cameras need to be unplugged and replugged"/>
   <arg name="color"		        default="false"	doc="Should color images be used (only works on models that support color images)"/>
   <arg name="exposure_time"     default="0"	doc="Exposure_time setting for cameras"/>
+  <arg name="external_trigger"  default="false"	doc="External trigger (No camera is master)"/>
   <arg name="target_grey_value"   default="0"   doc="AutoExposureTargetGreyValue min: 4 max: 99 if set below 4, AutoExposureTargetGreyValueAuto will be set to continuous(auto) also available as dynamic reconfigurable parameter" />
   <arg name="frames"            default="3400"	doc="Numer of frames to save/view 0=ON"/>
   <arg name="live"              default="false"	doc="Show images on screen GUI"/>
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
 
     <!-- Load parameters onto server using argument or default values above -->
     <param name="exposure_time"     value="$(arg exposure_time)" />
+    <param name="external_trigger"     value="$(arg external_trigger)" />
     <param name="target_grey_value" value="$(arg target_grey_value)" />
     <param name="binning"           value="$(arg binning)" />
     <param name="color"             value="$(arg color)" />

launch/acquisition_node.launch

@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
   <arg name="binning"		    default="1"	doc="Binning for cameras, when changing from 2 to 1 cameras need to be unplugged and replugged"/>
   <arg name="color"		        default="false"	doc="Should color images be used (only works on models that support color images)"/>
   <arg name="exposure_time"     default="0" doc="Exposure_time setting for cameras"/>
+  <arg name="external_trigger"  default="false"	doc="External trigger (No camera is master)"/>
   <arg name="target_grey_value"   default="0"   doc="AutoExposureTargetGreyValue min: 4 max: 99 if set below 4, AutoExposureTargetGreyValueAuto will be set to continuous(auto) also available as dynamic reconfigurable parameter" />
   <arg name="frames"            default="3400"	doc="Numer of frames to save/view 0=ON"/>
   <arg name="live"              default="false"	doc="Show images on screen GUI"/>
@@ -34,6 +35,7 @@
 
     <!-- Load parameters onto server using argument or default values above -->
     <param name="exposure_time"     value="$(arg exposure_time)" />
+    <param name="external_trigger"  value="$(arg external_trigger)" />
     <param name="target_grey_value" value="$(arg target_grey_value)" />
     <param name="binning"           value="$(arg binning)" />
     <param name="color"             value="$(arg color)" />

launch/nodelet_subscriber_example.launch

@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
   <arg name="binning"           default="1" doc="Binning for cameras, when changing from 2 to 1 cameras need to be unplugged and replugged"/>
   <arg name="color"             default="false" doc="Should color images be used (only works on models that support color images)"/>
   <arg name="exposure_time"     default="0" doc="Exposure_time setting for cameras"/>
+  <arg name="external_trigger"  default="false"	doc="External trigger (No camera is master)"/>
   <arg name="target_grey_value"   default="0"   doc="AutoExposureTargetGreyValue min: 4 max: 99 if set below 4, AutoExposureTargetGreyValueAuto will be set to continuous(auto) also available as dynamic reconfigurable parameter" />
   <arg name="frames"            default="3400"  doc="Numer of frames to save/view 0=ON"/>
   <arg name="live"              default="false" doc="Show images on screen GUI"/>
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@
 
     <!-- Load parameters onto server using argument or default values above -->
     <param name="exposure_time"     value="$(arg exposure_time)" />
+    <param name="external_trigger"  value="$(arg external_trigger)" />
     <param name="target_grey_value" value="$(arg target_grey_value)" />
     <param name="binning"           value="$(arg binning)" />
     <param name="color"             value="$(arg color)" />

params/external_trigger_params.yaml

@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+cam_ids:
+- 17197559
+cam_aliases:
+- cam0
+skip: 20
+delay: 1.0
+
+# Assign all the follwing via launch file to prevent confusion and conflict
+
+#save_path: ~/projects/data
+#save_type: .bmp #binary or .tiff or .bmp
+#binning: 1 # going from 2 to 1 requires cameras to be unplugged and replugged
+#color: false
+#frames: 50
+#soft_framerate: 4 # this frame rate reflects to the software frame rate set using ros::rate
+#exp: 997
+#to_ros: true  #When to_ros is not selected, but live is selected, pressing 'space' exports single image to ROS

src/camera.cpp

@@ -21,8 +21,7 @@ acquisition::Camera::Camera(CameraPtr pCam) {
     frameID_ = -1;
     MASTER_ = false;
     timestamp_ = 0;
-    GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_ = 2000;
-    
+    GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_ = EVENT_TIMEOUT_INFINITE;
 }
 
 void acquisition::Camera::init() {
@@ -38,7 +37,6 @@ void acquisition::Camera::deinit() {
 }
 
 ImagePtr acquisition::Camera::grab_frame() {
-
     ImagePtr pResultImage = pCam_->GetNextImage(GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_);
     // Check if the Image is complete
 
@@ -235,7 +233,6 @@ void acquisition::Camera::adcBitDepth(gcstring bitDep) {
 }
 
 void acquisition::Camera::setBufferSize(int numBuf) {
-
     INodeMap & sNodeMap = pCam_->GetTLStreamNodeMap();
     CIntegerPtr StreamNode = sNodeMap.GetNode("StreamDefaultBufferCount");
     int64_t bufferCount = StreamNode->GetValue();
@@ -318,4 +315,4 @@ void acquisition::Camera::exposureTest() {
     float expTime=ptrExpTest->GetValue();
     ROS_DEBUG_STREAM("Exposure Time: "<<expTime<<endl);
 
-}
+}

src/capture.cpp

@@ -70,6 +70,7 @@ acquisition::Capture::Capture(): it_(nh_), nh_pvt_ ("~") {
     LIVE_ = false;
     TIME_BENCHMARK_ = false;
     MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_ = true;    
+    EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_ = false;
     EXPORT_TO_ROS_ = false;
     PUBLISH_CAM_INFO_ = false;
     SAVE_ = false;
@@ -81,6 +82,7 @@ acquisition::Capture::Capture(): it_(nh_), nh_pvt_ ("~") {
     init_delay_ = 1; 
     master_fps_ = 20.0;
     binning_ = 1;
+    SPINNAKER_GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_ = 2000;
     todays_date_ = todays_date();
 
     dump_img_ = "dump" + ext_;
@@ -149,6 +151,7 @@ acquisition::Capture::Capture(ros::NodeHandle nodehandl, ros::NodeHandle private
     LIVE_ = false;
     TIME_BENCHMARK_ = false;
     MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_ = true;
+    EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_ = false;
     EXPORT_TO_ROS_ = false;
     PUBLISH_CAM_INFO_ = false;
     SAVE_ = false;
@@ -160,6 +163,7 @@ acquisition::Capture::Capture(ros::NodeHandle nodehandl, ros::NodeHandle private
     init_delay_ = 1;
     master_fps_ = 20.0;
     binning_ = 1;
+    SPINNAKER_GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_ = 2000;
     todays_date_ = todays_date();
 
     dump_img_ = "dump" + ext_;
@@ -229,7 +233,10 @@ void acquisition::Capture::load_cameras() {
         for (int i=0; i<numCameras_; i++) {
 
             acquisition::Camera cam(camList_.GetByIndex(i));
-            
+            if (!EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_){
+                cam.setGetNextImageTimeout(SPINNAKER_GET_NEXT_IMAGE_TIMEOUT_);  // set to finite number when not using external triggering
+            }
+
             if (cam.get_id().compare(cam_ids_[j]) == 0) {
                 current_cam_found=true;
                 if (cam.get_id().compare(master_cam_id_) == 0) {
@@ -309,7 +316,8 @@ void acquisition::Capture::load_cameras() {
         if (!current_cam_found) ROS_WARN_STREAM("   Camera "<<cam_ids_[j]<<" not detected!!!");
     }
     ROS_ASSERT_MSG(cams.size(),"None of the connected cameras are in the config list!");
-    ROS_ASSERT_MSG(master_set,"The camera supposed to be the master isn't connected!");
+    if (!EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_)
+		ROS_ASSERT_MSG(master_set,"The camera supposed to be the master isn't connected!");
 }
 
 
@@ -363,17 +371,26 @@ void acquisition::Capture::read_parameters() {
         for (int i=0; i<cam_ids_.size(); i++)
             cam_names_.push_back(cam_ids_[i]);
     }
+    
+    if (nh_pvt_.getParam("external_trigger", EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_)){
+        ROS_INFO("  External trigger: %s",EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_?"true":"false");
+    }
+        else ROS_WARN("  'external_trigger' Parameter not set, using default behavior external_trigger=%s",EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_?"true":"false");
 
+	// Unless external trigger is being used, a master cam needs to be specified
     int mcam_int;
-    ROS_ASSERT_MSG(nh_pvt_.getParam("master_cam", mcam_int),"master_cam is required!");
+    if (!EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_){
+		ROS_ASSERT_MSG(nh_pvt_.getParam("master_cam", mcam_int),"master_cam is required!");
+	
     master_cam_id_=to_string(mcam_int);
     bool found = false;
     for (int i=0; i<cam_ids_.size(); i++) {
         if (master_cam_id_.compare(cam_ids_[i]) == 0)
             found = true;
     }
     ROS_ASSERT_MSG(found,"Specified master cam is not in the cam_ids list!");
-    
+	}
+	
     if (nh_pvt_.getParam("utstamps", MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_)){
         MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_ = !MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_;
         ROS_INFO("  Unique time stamps for each camera: %s",!MASTER_TIMESTAMP_FOR_ALL_?"true":"false");
@@ -842,8 +859,8 @@ void acquisition::Capture::save_binary_frames(int dump) {
 
 void acquisition::Capture::get_mat_images() {
     //ros time stamp creation
-    mesg.header.stamp = ros::Time::now();
-    mesg.time = ros::Time::now();
+    //mesg.header.stamp = ros::Time::now();
+    //mesg.time = ros::Time::now();
     double t = ros::Time::now().toSec();
 
     ostringstream ss;
@@ -872,6 +889,8 @@ void acquisition::Capture::get_mat_images() {
             ss << cams[i].get_frame_id() << ", ";
 
     }
+    mesg.header.stamp = ros::Time::now();
+    mesg.time = ros::Time::now();
     string message = ss.str();
     ROS_DEBUG_STREAM(message);
 
@@ -894,7 +913,10 @@ void acquisition::Capture::run_soft_trig() {
 
     int count = 0;
 
-    cams[MASTER_CAM_].trigger();
+    if (!EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_) {
+        cams[MASTER_CAM_].trigger();
+    }
+    
     get_mat_images();
     if (SAVE_) {
         count++;
@@ -960,7 +982,9 @@ void acquisition::Capture::run_soft_trig() {
 
             // Call update functions
             if (!MANUAL_TRIGGER_) {
-                cams[MASTER_CAM_].trigger();
+                if (!EXTERNAL_TRIGGER_) {
+                    cams[MASTER_CAM_].trigger();
+                }
                 get_mat_images();
             }
 
@@ -1004,7 +1028,7 @@ void acquisition::Capture::run_soft_trig() {
         }
     }
     catch(const std::exception &e){
-        ROS_FATAL_STREAM("Excption: "<<e.what());
+        ROS_FATAL_STREAM("Exception: "<<e.what());
     }
     catch(...){
         ROS_FATAL_STREAM("Some unknown exception occured. \v Exiting gracefully, \n  possible reason could be Camera Disconnection...");
@@ -1184,10 +1208,10 @@ void acquisition::Capture::run_mt() {
 }
 
 void acquisition::Capture::run() {
-    if(!MAX_RATE_SAVE_)
-        run_soft_trig();
-    else
-        run_mt();
+    if (MAX_RATE_SAVE_)
+		run_mt();
+	else
+		run_soft_trig();
 }
 
 std::string acquisition::Capture::todays_date()
@@ -1227,4 +1251,4 @@ void acquisition::Capture::dynamicReconfigureCallback(spinnaker_sdk_camera_drive
             }
         }
     }
-}
+}