Camera Control

AirGen provides methods for controlling camera settings within the simulation environment, including camera pose and field of view (FOV). Below are the key methods for camera manipulation.

simSetCameraPose

This function sets the pose (position and orientation) of a specified camera. You can control both internal and external cameras.

def simSetCameraPose(self, camera_name, pose, vehicle_name="", external=False):
    """
    Set the pose of a camera.

    Args:
        camera_name (str): Name of the camera
        pose (Pose): Desired position and orientation
        vehicle_name (str, optional): Associated vehicle name
        external (bool, optional): Controls an external camera
    """
    self.client.call("simSetCameraPose", str(camera_name), pose, vehicle_name, external)

Example:

To set the pose of the "front_center" camera using AirGenCar:

import airgen
import time
import math
from grid.robot.airgen_car import AirGenCar

airgen_car_0 = AirGenCar()
client = airgen_car_0.client

def euler_to_quaternion(pitch, roll, yaw):
    # Convert Euler angles to quaternion
    pitch, roll, yaw = map(math.radians, [pitch, roll, yaw])
    cy, sy = math.cos(yaw * 0.5), math.sin(yaw * 0.5)
    cr, sr = math.cos(roll * 0.5), math.sin(roll * 0.5)
    cp, sp = math.cos(pitch * 0.5), math.sin(pitch * 0.5)
    return airgen.Quaternionr(cy * cr * cp + sy * sr * sp, cy * sr * cp - sy * cr * sp, cy * cr * sp + sy * sr * cp, sy * cr * cp - cy * sr * sp)

initial_pose = client.simGetCameraInfo("front_center").pose

test_poses = [
    airgen.Pose(airgen.Vector3r(0, 0, -10), euler_to_quaternion(0, 0, 0)),
    airgen.Pose(airgen.Vector3r(0, 0, -10), euler_to_quaternion(0, 0, 90)),
]

for pose in test_poses:
    client.simSetCameraPose("front_center", pose)
    time.sleep(2)
    client.simSetCameraPose("front_center", initial_pose)

Arguments:

camera_name: Name of the camera
pose: Pose object representing position and orientation
vehicle_name: (Optional) Vehicle to which the camera is attached
external: (Optional) Controls external cameras

Notes:

The Pose object follows the North-East-Down (NED) coordinate system.
This method supports external camera control using the external flag.

simSetCameraFov

Modifies the field of view (FOV) of a selected camera.

def simSetCameraFov(self, camera_name, fov_degrees, vehicle_name="", external=False):
    """
    Set the FOV of a camera.

    Args:
        camera_name (str): Name of the camera
        fov_degrees (float): FOV in degrees
        vehicle_name (str, optional): Associated vehicle name
        external (bool, optional): Controls an external camera
    """
    self.client.call("simSetCameraFov", str(camera_name), fov_degrees, vehicle_name, external)

Example:

Set the FOV for the "front_center" camera to 90 degrees:

client.simSetCameraFov("front_center", 90.0)

Arguments:

camera_name: Name of the camera
fov_degrees: FOV in degrees
vehicle_name: (Optional) Associated vehicle name
external: (Optional) Controls external cameras

Coordinate System and Frame of Reference

Camera position and orientation follow the North-East-Down (NED) frame:

X: Points forward (north)
Y: Points right (east)
Z: Points downward

Please ensure your poses are aligned with this frame.