Description
The camera grid view shows the most recently available images from the connected cameras as tiles.
For details on camera support and compatibility, please refer to the specification sheet.
The green pulsating indicator in front of the camera name shows that the camera is currently sending images.
To open the Detail view for a camera, click on one of the tiles.
The 3-dot menu allows you to access more camera commands, such as deleting the camera and toggling between enabled and disabled statuses.
Camera plugin support
This function gives you the possibility to create camera connectors that can be loaded into the Vision Connector application. VCA Drivers containing some templates, header files and implementations that help in creating a camera driver version (.so file) are introduced with this function.
User actions:
Prepare a "customized" camera driver using the VCA SDK. Upload the newly created "modified" camera driver packet file into the VCA. Click on "Manage camera connections" and continue with "Add new type".
Upload the newly created "modified" camera driver to the user interface in the VCA.
Activate the uploaded camera driver.
The application was checked for viruses before publication on Industrial Edge. Users of camera driver plugins should also check these with a virus scanner before using them in the Vision Connector application. Only camera driver plugins from trusted sources should be used. Siemens is not liable for problems that arise due to camera connector plugins of third parties being used.
System reactions:
The user-defined camera driver files are generated by the VCA SDK. Each step is documented in VCA Drivers. You can find additional information on this in the "Plugin concept" section.
The VCA begins to use the modified camera driver in the same way as the integrated version.
The uploaded camera driver can also be updated or deleted.
The VCA prevents the plugin from being deleted when a camera is active in order to minimize potential risks in the factory.
Simulated cameras
This function allows you to test a pipeline that has already been provided on the AI Inference Server without a real camera being connected to the VCA. You can upload .zip files as image sets containing the static images and set the playback frequency of these images (in frames per second).
Playback as a real camera simulation can take place either once or in a loop. The simulation makes it possible to change the size of the image.
The image set can be deleted if it is no longer required.
It is not possible to update (or delete) an image set if the image set is used by a simulated camera. The standard, integrated image sets cannot be deleted or changed.
Requirements
VCA is installed on the Edge device.
The static images in the formats .png, .jpg, .jpeg or .bmp are compressed into a .zip file. The .zip file is used as a replacement for real camera images.
User actions
Click the "Manage image sets" button.
Select "Upload new .zip file" in the pop-up window.
Add a brief description.
Select the .zip file and upload it.
System reactions
The user should scan the image archive files (ZIP) with a virus scanner before uploading them and using them in the Vision Connector application.
VCA saves the uploaded image set.
Uploading a new image set or updating an existing image set does not automatically lead to the creation of a new camera in the camera grid. A new simulated camera can be added via "Add Camera".
The supported parameters for simulated_camera are:
Image set source: Selection of the image set to be used. This parameter is separate from the rest and is also described.
Output format: Select supported pixel format conversions.
Resize: Toggle between the original image size and a custom image size. The default value is “false“ (original image size).
Supported pixel formats: Mono8, RGB8, BGR8, BayerRG8, BayerBG8, BayerGB8, BayerGR8, YUV422Packed, YUV422_YUYV_Packed.
The default value is Mono8.
Width and Height: The user-defined resolution of the images. These values are used when resizing is enabled.
Frequency: The FPS number at which the images are to be sent.
Continuous image playback: When the last image in the selected image set is reached, the loop is restarted from the beginning. The default value is "true". If this parameter is disabled and the camera stream reaches the last frame in the image set, a playback option appears instead of the camera stream.
VCA starts playback of the selected image set in alphabetical order (name). When a new simulated_camera camera is added, it automatically uses the standard image set.
Note:VCA offers an integrated standard image set that cannot be deleted or changed, but can be downloaded. This standard image set contains three Full HD images in the following order: red, green and blue.
Filtering and finding cameras
You can filter the cameras by clicking the "Online", "Offline" and "Disabled" buttons.
You can use the search box to search for individual cameras.