Camera1394 Problems

Camera Not Found

Error:

  •  $ rosrun camera1394 camera1394_node _guid:=08001000821f2a
     [ INFO] [1277163420.502573259]: Found camera with GUID 8144361026320a0
     [ INFO] [1277163420.536846060]: Found camera with GUID 800461000821fa2
     [FATAL] [1277163420.537210073]: [camera] exception opening device: [Camera1394::open]: Could not find camera with guid 0800461000821f2a

Check:

  • Is that the correct GUID? Note that in the example above it is not, the last two digits of 800461000821fa2 were mistyped.

Solution:

  • Use the correct GUID. Or, if there is only one camera, omit the GUID so the driver will connect to the first available.

Check:

  • Is the non-responsive camera plugged in correctly with an IEEE 1394 cable of the correct type? Is the camera getting power, either from the 1394 cable or from some other source?

Solution:

  • If not, correct the cabling.

Check:

Solution:

  • If so, carefully note the parameters provided by the device. Start the camera1394 driver using the same parameter values. If not, the camera may be hung.

No Bus Access Permissions

Error:

  •  Could not initialize dc1394_context.

Check:

  • Does /dev/video0 exist?

     $ ls -l /dev/video*
     crw-rw----+ 1 root video 81, 0 Feb  1 20:20 /dev/video0
    Does your user ID have access permission?
     $ id
     uid=1001(joq) gid=1001(joq) groups=44(video),115(admin),1001(joq)

Solution:

  • Grant your user ID access to group video.

No Images Shown

Error:

  • Image blank or not changing.

Check:

  •  $ rostopic hz camera/image_raw
     subscribed to [/camera/image_raw]
     average rate: 15.344
            min: 0.049s max: 0.082s std dev: 0.01015s window: 14
     average rate: 15.176
            min: 0.049s max: 0.082s std dev: 0.00699s window: 29
     average rate: 15.088
            min: 0.049s max: 0.082s std dev: 0.00585s window: 44
     average rate: 15.076
    Does the message rate summary (shown above) appear periodically?

Solution:

  • If so, the driver is publishing data. Check that image users connect to the correct topic names.

Check:

  • Start the reconfigure_gui for this camera:

     $ rosrun dynamic_reconfigure reconfigure_gui
  • Are the video_mode, frame_rate, and iso_speed parameters set as expected?

Solution:

  • If not, set the correct parameter values in the GUI.

Check:

  • Can coriander display images from this camera using the same combination of parameters?

  • Can coriander display images from this camera using the some combination of parameters?

Solution:

  • If so, change the parameters to a combination that works. Otherwise, the camera is probably hung.

Camera Hung

Error:

  • Many IIDC cameras are very sensitive to invalid combinations of parameters. The device firmware may lock up if commanded to do something impossible.

Check:

  • Does the camera respond after resetting the 1394 bus?
    •    # install package for Ubuntu or Debian distributions:
         $ sudo apt-get install libdc1394-utils 
         $ dc1394_reset_bus
  • Does the camera respond after its cable is disconnected and reconnected?
  • Does the camera respond after the kernel drivers are unloaded and reloaded?
  • Does the camera respond after the computer is rebooted?

Solution:

  • If so, restart the driver.

Slow Frame Rate

Error:

  • Camera is not achieving the commanded frame_rate

Check:

  •  $ rostopic hz camera/image_raw
     subscribed to [/camera/image_raw]
     average rate: 15.027
            min: 0.054s max: 0.081s std dev: 0.00732s window: 15
     average rate: 15.004
            min: 0.026s max: 0.101s std dev: 0.01129s window: 30
     average rate: 15.004
            min: 0.026s max: 0.101s std dev: 0.01130s window: 45
     average rate: 14.968
            min: 0.026s max: 0.101s std dev: 0.01260s window: 60
    Is the driver publishing raw images at the expected rate?

Solution:

  • If not, start the reconfigure_gui for this camera:

     $ rosrun dynamic_reconfigure reconfigure_gui

    Some feature settings may be prevent the camera from meeting its desired frame_rate. For example, if the shutter time is longer than the time between frames, the camera will either fall behind or force the shutter time to a shorter exposure. In poor lighting conditions, it may be necessary to adjust several parameters to get an acceptable compromise between picture brightness and frame rate.

Wiki: camera1394/Troubleshooting (last edited 2013-02-02 19:17:20 by JackOQuin)