Dragonfly 2

Mount the camera

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Direction/orientation of the camera

You can point the camera in either of these directions:

  • towards the ceiling (recommended option);
  • forward or backward.

OPTION 1 – Camera pointed towards the ceiling

This is the best configuration when the ceiling is composed of distinguishable shapes and objects as in the video below.

The advantage of this configuration is that the ceiling usually does not change over time making the positioning more robust (despite Dragonfly is able to relocate in an already mapped environment that has then changed by 40% as explained at this link).

OPTION 2 – Camera pointed forward or backward

This is an alternative configuration to be used only when:

  • the ceiling is NOT composed of distinguishable shapes and objects (e.g. a plain white ceiling);
  • or the camera can’t be pointed towards the ceiling (e.g. because you are using a camera already integrated inside a robot or drone).

The cons of this configuration is that during the mapping phase the monocular camera:

  • is NOT allowed to perform pure rotations around itself (called YAW rotations) like shown in the image below.
  • is allowed to perform rotations around itself only in conjunction with translation movements (e.g. like a turning car).

Forbidden pure YAW rotations of monocular camera during the mapping phase

There are no limits for what concerns the pure rotations that can be done:

  • by a monocular camera after the mapping phase.
  • by a stereoscopic cameras during or after the mapping phase.

The camera should be placed at an height that allows it to be free from any obstruction. So, when the camera is pointed:

  • towards the ceiling – then we suggest to place the camera at the maximum height. For example:
    • if the device to be tracked is a forklift then we suggest to place the camera on top of the forklift roof;
    • if the device to be tracked is a small AGV than it would be ideal to have a support that can raise the camera.
  • forward or backward – then there is NO suggested altitude.

In addition to this, regardless of the fact that the camera is pointed forward or towards the ceiling, please keep in mind that ALL the mobile assets that will be tracked thanks to Dragonfly will have to mount the camera at the same height (with a tolerance of +- 10 cm).

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