This repository is archived.

It's highly recommended to use the latest version of Mech-Eye C++ API.

Please select the proper branch corresponding to the camera firmware version.

If the camera firmware version is greater than or equal to 1.5.0, please use the latest version of Mech-Eye C++ API.

Installation

This part tells you how to configure and run sample projects on Windows.

Prerequisites

In order to use this interface you will need the following Prerequisites installed:

1. Cmake -Version > 3.7 is required.
2. Visual Studio -Version > 2015 is recommended.

Using CMake to configure

1. Clone the project and select project folder in Cmake. Select where you want to build.

   

2. Click the configure and choose the compiler(Visual Studio).

   

3. Extract files from \Mech-Eye_interface\dependencies\dependencies for MechEye_OpenInterface.7z and modify the path in the cmake according to the locations of these extracted files.

   

4. Click Generate and then Open Project and project will be opened in Visual Studio.

Quick Start

1. Open the Visual Studio.

2. Modify the IP address according to the actual address in every sample_xxx.cpp files and build it. Then VS will generate an .exe file in working directory, usually .\build\Debug\MechEye_OpenInterface.exe.

3. Add all extrated .dll files from dependencies for MechEye_OpenInterface.7z to the working directory.

4. Run this .exe file and it will capture images and point clouds in the working directory.

Project hierarchy

The following shows the hierarchy of project files

Mech-Eye_interface
├─ CMakeLists.txt
├─ README.md
├─ dependencies
│    └─ dependencies for MechEye_OpenInterface.7z
├─ img
│    ├─ ip.jpg
│    ├─ step.png
│    ├─ step1.jpg
│    ├─ step2.jpg
│    ├─ step2_2.jpg
│    └─ step3.jpg
├─ include
│    ├─ CameraClient.h
│    ├─ CameraCmd.h
│    ├─ PointCloudTools.h
│    ├─ ZmqClient.h
│    └─ sample.h
├─ json
│    ......
├─ sample
│    ├─ sample1_parameter.cpp
│    └─ sample2_ImgAndCloud.cpp
└─ src
       ├─ CameraClient.cpp
       ├─ PointCloudTools.cpp
       ├─ ZmqClient.cpp
       └─ main.cpp

• dependencies

  It contains all .dll and other dependencies needed by the project.

• include

  It contains all .h header files of interfaces.

• json

  Since C++ standard libraries don't contain any json libraries, this folder contains a third-party library for json.

• sample

  It contains 2 samples which briefly introduce the usage of interfaces.

• src

  It contains all source code, interface fucntions are defined in CameraClient.cpp. Main.cpp, sample1_parameter.cpp and sample2_ImgAndCloud are examples to show how to use interfaces.

Brief Intro to interfaces

All interfaces and functions are in CameraClient.cpp.

There are two main classes: CameraClient and ZmqClient. CameraClient is subclass of ZmqClient. You only need to focus on CameraClient.

• CameraClient

  • connect() : connect to the camera according to its ip address.

  • captureDepthImg() : capture a depth image and return it.

  • captureColorImg() : capture a color image and return it.

  • getCameraIntri(): get camera's intrinsic parameters.

  • getCameraInfo(): get camera's ip address.

  • getCameraVersion(): get camera's version number.

  • getColorImgSize() : get the height and width of the color image to be captured.

  • getDepthImgSize() : get the height and width of the depth image to be captured.

  • getParameter() : get the value of a specific parameter in camera.

  • setParameter() : set the value of a specific parameter in camera.

    Attention: Please be sure to know the meaning of your setting of parameters, wrong setting could cause error!

  • captureRgbPointCloud() : get a point cloud as pcl::PointXYZRGB

Intro to samples

The original project provides 2 samples to show how to use interfaces. They are included under .\sample.

sample1_parameter.cpp

This sample shows how to set camera's paramters.

First, we need to know the actual IP address of camera and set it, and then connect:

CameraClient camera;
std::string error;
// Camera ip should be modified to actual IP address.
const std::string cameraIp = "192.168.3.146";
if (!camera.connect(cameraIp)) return -1; //return -1 if connection to camera fails

Then, we can get some brief info about camera:

std::cout 
	<< "Camera ID: " << camera.getCameraId() << std::endl
	<< "Version: " << camera.getCameraVersion() << std::endl 
	<< "Color Image Size: " << camera.getColorImgSize() << std::endl
	<< "Depth Image Size: " << camera.getDepthImgSize() << std::endl; 

Finally, we can set and get the value of a specific parameter, in this case, we choose exposure mode and time for 2D image:

std::cout << camera.setParameter("scan2dExposureMode",0) << std::endl;
std::cout << camera.getParameter("scan2dExposureMode", error) << std::endl;
std::cout << camera.setParameter("scan2dExposureTime", 20) << std::endl;
std::cout << camera.getParameter("scan2dExposureTime", error) << std::endl;

sample2_ImgAndCloud.cpp

This sample capture color images, depth images and point clouds and then save them on the disk.