Viam filtered camera module

If your smart machine captures a lot of data, you can filter captured data to selectively store only the data that meets certain criteria. This module allows you to filter image data by:

Specified classification labels and required confidence scores
Detected objects and their associated required confidence scores

This allows you to:

Classify images and only sync images that have the required label
Look for objects in an image and sync the images that have a certain object

This module also allows you to specifcy a time window for syncing the data captured in the N seconds before the capture criteria were met.

Configure your filtered camera

Note

Before configuring your camera, you must create a robot.

Navigate to the Config tab of your robot’s page in the Viam app. Click on the Components subtab and click Create component. Select the camera type, then select the filtered-camera model and click Add module. Enter a name for your camera and click Create.

On the new component panel, copy and paste the following attribute template into your base’s Attributes box.

{
    "camera": "<your_camera_name>",
    "vision": "<your_vision_service_name>",
    "window_seconds": <time_window_for_capture>,
    "classifications": {
        "<label>": <confidence_score>,
        "<label>": <confidence_score>
    },
    "objects": {
        "<label>": <confidence_score>,
        "<label>": <confidence_score>
    }
}

Note

For more information, see Configure a Robot.

Attributes

The following attributes are available for erh:camera:filtered-camera bases:

Name	Type	Inclusion	Description
`camera`	string	Required	The name of the camera to filter images for.
`vision`	string	Required	The vision service used for image classifications or detections.
`window_seconds`	float64	Optional	The size of the time window during which images are buffered. When a condition is met, a confidence score for a detection/classification exceeds the required confidence score, the buffered images are stored, allowing us to see the photos taken in the N number of seconds preceding the condition being met.
in seconds for capturing and sending images.
`classifications`	float64	Optional	A map of
classification labels and the confidence scores required for filtering.
`objects`	float64	Optional	A map of object detection
labels and the confidence scores required for filtering.

Example configurations:

{
    "camera": "my_camera",
    "vision": "my_red_car_detector",
    "windowSeconds": 5,
    "objects": {
        "red_car": 0.6
    }
}

Local Development

To use the filtered_camera module, clone this repository to your machine’s computer, navigate to the module directory, and run:

go build

On your robot’s page in the Viam app, enter the [module’s executable path](/registry/create/#prepare-the-module-for-execution, then click Add module. The name must use only lowercase characters. Then, click Save config.

Next Steps

To test your camera, go to the Control tab.
To test that your camera's images are filtering correctly, go to the Data tab.