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Stream RTSP video using MIPI cameras from VOXL (VOXL-RTSP)

Table of contents

  1. Overview
  2. Running VOXL-RTSP
  3. Viewing Video Stream
    1. RTSP Streaming to VLC or Quicktime
    2. RTSP Streaming to QGroundControl
  4. Accessing Raw Frames

Overview

voxl-streamer is replacing voxl-rtsp as the framework to access MIPI cameras. voxl-rtsp will be deprecated in the future.

VOXL-RTSP is a simple application to stream video from a VOXL image sensor using RTSP and, optionally, store video locally to a MP4 file. Run the video streaming application from the VOXL and view using a RTSP viewer such as VLC or Quicktime player.

Running VOXL-RTSP

The VOXL’s connectors are attached to the following Image Sensor Subsystem ports and have the following colloquial names.

Port Image Sensor ID Colloquial Name
J2 0 Hi-res Image Sensor Port
J3 1 Stereo Image Sensor Port
J4 2 Tracking Image Sensor Port

Run the streaming server on target, using the -c option with the specified Image Sensor ID to choose which image sensor to stream video from.

$ voxl-rtsp -c 0 # Stream video from Hi-res Image Sensor
Simple RTSP starting
Camera number: 0
Connected
Started camera 0
Created session
Video track created
Updated camera parameters
AE Mode: 1, Exposure: 15814, Gain: 100, AWB Mode: 1
rtsp://DEVICE_IP:PORT/live
Started session
Ctrl-c or 'kill 3038' to end

Some parameters to try:

Resolution: -s 3840x2160

Bitrate: -b 10000000

Viewing Video Stream

RTSP Streaming to VLC or Quicktime

Open streaming server’s RTSP URL in VLC or QuickTime player: rtsp://DEVICE_IP:PORT/live

  • Connect host system to VOXL’s WiFi

  • On the host system, run the VLC software

  • Go to Media > Open Network Stream

  • Enter RTSP URL, default: rtsp://192.168.8.1:8900/live

  • Click Play to view the video stream

RTSP Streaming to QGroundControl

  • The first step to streaming video to QGroundControl is connecting the VOXL system to QGroundControl through an IP connection. Instructions on establishing a connection to QGroundControl can be found here.

  • Next, in QGroundControl, press the purple QGC logo in the top left corner in order to Access the Application Settings menu.

  • Under the General tab, scroll down until you find the Video section.

  • Under the Video Source dropdown, choose RTSP Video Stream

  • In the RTSP URL field. enter the RTSP URL, default: rtsp://192.168.8.1:8900/live

  • You will now be able to view the video stream under QGroundControl’s Fly view.

Accessing Raw Frames

The voxl-rtsp -m option allows access to the raw frames from the MIPI cameras. This option creates a FIFO special file, a named pipe, that can be opened by many different types of processses for reading or writing.