Camport3: A Powerful C++ Library for Depth Cameras

Camport3: A Powerful C++ Development Tool for Percipio Depth Cameras

In today’s fields of computer vision and robotics, depth cameras play an increasingly important role. Camport3, as a C++ library designed for the Percipio depth camera, provides developers with a powerful and user-friendly tool to help them quickly develop applications related to depth cameras.

1. Introduction to Camport3

Camport3 is a software development kit (SDK) specifically designed for the Percipio depth camera. It offers a rich set of C/C++ APIs and sample applications, enabling developers to easily control the camera and acquire image data. This image data includes depth images, 3D point clouds, color images, and infrared images, meeting the needs of various application scenarios.

2. Features

(1) Multi-Platform Support

Camport3 has excellent cross-platform characteristics, supporting various operating systems and hardware architectures. It is compatible with Windows and Linux operating systems, specifically including Windows x64 and x86 platforms, as well as Linux x64, i686, armv7hf, and aarch64 platforms. This wide compatibility allows developers to use Camport3 in different development environments without worrying about platform limitations.

Camport3: A Powerful C++ Library for Depth Cameras

(2) Rich API

Camport3 provides a comprehensive API that covers all aspects from camera configuration to image data acquisition. For example, the TY_API.h file defines a series of APIs for configuring the depth camera, allowing developers to set camera parameters, start and stop data streams, etc. Additionally, the TYImageProc.h file provides interfaces for image post-processing functions, while the TYCoordinateMapper.h file is used for mapping image space transformations. These APIs offer powerful functional support for developers, enabling them to flexibly develop various applications.

(3) Sample Programs

To help developers better understand and use Camport3, the SDK also includes a wealth of sample programs. These sample programs are divided into sample_v1 and sample_v2 versions, where sample_v2 adds more convenient camera control interfaces based on sample_v1 and provides options for OpenCV dependency. Through these sample programs, developers can quickly learn how to use Camport3’s APIs to implement various functions, such as acquiring depth images and 3D point clouds.

(4) Dependency Management

Using Camport3 requires support from some dependency libraries, such as CMake and OpenCV. CMake is a cross-platform build tool used to generate standard build files. OpenCV is used for image processing and display. However, if the developer’s application does not require OpenCV for image display or other image processing calculations, the dependency on OpenCV can be removed. This flexible dependency management approach allows developers to choose whether to use OpenCV based on their needs, simplifying the configuration of the development environment.

3. Usage Methods

(1) Windows Platform

To use Camport3 on the Windows platform, you first need to install the USB driver. Then, copy the tycam.dll file to a directory in the system environment variable. Next, use CMake to generate .sln and .vcxproj files, and copy the tycam.lib file to the build directory. Finally, open the .sln file in Visual Studio for compilation and debugging.

(2) Linux Platform

On the Linux platform, developers need to first install the Libusb user-space library and OpenCV. Then, copy the target platform’s libtycam.so file to the /usr/lib directory and execute the ldconfig command to create necessary links and caches. After that, create a build directory under the sample directory and run cmake and make commands for compilation. The generated executable file will be located in the ./bin directory.

4. Documentation and Support

Camport3 provides detailed API documentation, which is generated as PDF files through Doxygen. The documentation includes descriptions of classes, structures, interfaces, and functions. Developers can gain a deeper understanding of the various functional modules of Camport3 and how to use its APIs by reading these documents. Additionally, the Camport3 developer community and official technical support provide a good learning and communication platform for users.

5. Conclusion

As a C++ library for the Percipio depth camera, Camport3 has become an important tool in the development of depth camera applications due to its multi-platform support, rich APIs, sample programs, and flexible dependency management. It not only reduces development difficulty but also improves development efficiency, allowing developers to focus more on implementing their application logic. Whether beginners or experienced developers, anyone can quickly get started with Camport3 and develop efficient and reliable depth camera applications.

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