ZED2i Camera

ZED2i Overview

The ZED2i Camera is a stereo camera that provides high definition 3D video and neural depth perception of the environment. It provides the following features:

• Depth Sensing, Positional Tracking, Object Detection and many more.

For the ZED2i to use the features mentioned above, the ZED SDK must be installed. This is a library which provides many features to easily build and utilize the ZED2i camera. To determine an appropriate computer system for the ZED2i camera, it must meet the system specifications of the ZED SDK. The image below shows these system specifications found in the ZED documentation.

For easier understanding, I have compiled the information from the StereoLabs website and the image above to have clearer specifications for the ZED SDK:

• OS: Ubuntu 18.04 (Legacy), 20.04, 22.04 / Windows 10, 11
• CUDA: Version 11.x or 12.x
• GPU: NVIDIA GPU with Compute Capability ≥ 5.0 (Pascal or more recent architecture)
• RAM: 4 GB minimum (8 GB+ Recommended)
• CPU: Quad Core or better
• USB: USB 3.0

Note: These specifications are specifically for ZED SDK v4.x.

Running ZED2i Camera on Personal Computer

• Needs a laptop/computer with a NVidia GPU (Prior research must be conducted for compatibility with ZED SDK)
• Needs a Linux OS (You can Dual Boot if you have a windows OS, refer to Setup Ubuntu and ROS)

Installation and Setup

The first thing to install is the ZED SDK. Currently, ZED SDK v4.2.5 is being used and is recommended for installation. The ZED SDK installation for v4.2.5 is found here: https://www.stereolabs.com/en-ca/developers/release/4.2

In the image below, ensure that under CUDA 11 (11.1 and newer), ZED SDK for Ubuntu 20 4.2 is selected. This is the specific version currently being used since Ubuntu 20.04.2 is the OS used on the Rover.

The reason that CUDA 11 is selected over CUDA 12 is in part due to the fact that it is less intensive and can run on most recent computers that have a NVidia GPU. When installing the ZED SDK, if CUDA isn't installed, it'll prompt installation for CUDA 11.

Now, the ZED SDK and CUDA should be installed. The final installation needed is the ZED-ROS-Wrapper. The reason the wrapper is needed, is that it comes equipped with ROS packages integrated with the ZED camera.

Note: Make sure the zed-ros-wrapper is inside the src folder but outside of the uvic_rover repository.

Follow these terminal commands:

cd ~/catkin_ws/src
git clone --recursive https://github.com/stereolabs/zed-ros-wrapper.git

If for some reason the submodule, zed-ros-interfaces doesn't get cloned, then do this:

cd zed-ros-wrapper
git submodule update --init --recursive

Now to install some dependencies that are required for ZED:

cd ~/catkin_ws
rosdep install --from-paths src --ignore-src -r -y

Now, make sure you are in your catkin_ws directory to do cmake. (Make sure that /build and /devel folders are removed prior to doing cmake to avoid conflicts!)

This concludes the installations for running the ZED camera.

Running Scripts

Currently, only the aruco marker script exists. To run this script, python-imutils needs to be installed.

sudo apt update
sudo apt install ros-noetic-cv-bridge python3-opencv python3-imutils

OR

pip install imutils

Now, the aruco node can be run by doing:

rosrun uvic_rover aruco_detector.py

For Additional Background Information

• Refer to wiki page: CUDA
• Refer to wiki page: Compatible Computer Systems