Camtypes

Camtypes is a term used in computer vision and robotics software to describe a modular collection or library component that defines and manages camera models and their associated data. It acts as an abstraction layer that unifies how different camera types are represented, calibrated, and used within an application.

A typical camtypes implementation includes a set of camera type definitions, often organized as an enumeration or registry, along with data structures to store intrinsic parameters (such as focal lengths, optical center, and skew), distortion coefficients, and sometimes extrinsic parameters that relate the camera to a world or robot coordinate frame. Supported camera models commonly include pinhole, fisheye, and other wide-angle or omnirig configurations, each with its own parameter set and projection formula.

The primary purposes of camtypes are to enable calibration workflows, provide consistent access to camera parameters, and facilitate conversions between projection models. By encapsulating camera-specific logic, camtypes allows algorithms for 3D reconstruction, image undistortion, and pose estimation to operate agnostically of the underlying camera model. This abstraction is particularly valuable in multi-camera systems, where a uniform representation simplifies synchronization, data association, and calibration across different devices.

Implementation considerations for camtypes include handling different conventions across vendors, supporting serialization and deserialization of calibration data, and providing facilities to convert parameters between models when needed. Some designs offer factory functions or adapters to create camera instances from calibration files, enabling easy integration into larger perception pipelines.

See also: camera calibration, intrinsic parameters, distortion model, projection model, extrinsic parameters, multi-camera rig.