IDS

SUMMARY

The IDS class provides a Python interface for IDS industrial cameras, supporting single-image capture, continuous video streaming, and remote control over BabyROS. It wraps the IDS Peak SDK to handle device connection, buffer allocation, parameter management, and safe teardown.

Requirements: IDS Peak Cockpit 2.9.0.0 and IDS Peak 2.20.0.0-484 must be installed, and a supported IDS camera must be connected via USB3.

Tested devices:

• IDS U3-36PxXCP-C with IDS 8.5mm 1:2.8 C 1.1" lens
• IDS U3-35L0XC

Use Cases

Vision Based Pick and Place

Eye-in-Hand calibrated IDS U3-35L0XC mounted on the robot arm.

Quality Assurance

Statically mounted IDS U3-36PxXCP-C with IDS 8.5mm 1:2.8 C 1.1" lens.

Useful Links

• IDS Peak Quickstart
• IDS Peak User Manual
• IDS Peak – Example Repository

Installation

1. Install Medulla as described in the overview.
2. Install the IDS SDK (Windows) from the official website:
   https://de.ids-imaging.com/download-peak.html
   Follow the installation wizard and restart your PC.
3. Install the optional IDS dependencies from the medulla folder:

   pip install .[ids]

Getting Started

WARNING

Examples were tested on Windows 11 only.

After installing the IDS software, connect your IDS camera and open IDS Peak Cockpit to configure it:

1. Open the camera manager and start the camera by selecting your camera in the left panel and clicking the camera button:

Under U3V Producers you will see all cameras connected to your PC. The list shows the camera model (e.g. U3-36PxXCP-C) followed by its serial number (e.g. 4108909352).

2. Adjust camera parameters as needed (e.g. analog gain, exposure):

Cameras run in free-run mode by default — parameter changes are reflected immediately in the viewer.

3. Close IDS Peak Cockpit before running any medulla script.

WARNING

Only one program can access the camera at a time. Close IDS Peak Cockpit before running medulla. Parameter changes persist as long as the camera remains connected and the PC is not restarted.

4. Capture an image using medulla:

from medulla.cameras import ids

camera = ids.IDS(name="my_ids_camera", serial_number="4108909352")
camera.connect()
image = camera.capture_single_color_frame()
camera.disconnect()

Examples

Example	Description
Capture Single Image	Capture one color frame and visualize with Rerun
Stream Live Video	Stream continuous frames to a Rerun viewer
Publish Live Video with BabyROS	Control streaming remotely via BabyROS topics
Advanced BabyROS Usage	Combine capture and streaming through a BabyROS client