MultiSense Viewer

Multisense Viewer is an application designed to get users familiar with the camera and its operation. It allows a user to quickly set up the sensor, find settings that work, and get a sense of how the sensor performs in their environment. The application is open soured on Github at: MultiSense Viewer.

Installation

Binary releases for the MultiSense Viewer application can be found below. Binaries are available for Windows and Linux. Follow the instructions below for installation.

Windows

  1. Install WinPcap_driver.exe to allow the viewer to configure network settings automatically. Skip this if you prefer to perform static IP setup yourself.

  2. Perform one of the following steps:
    1. Download and run the Windows installer: MultiSenseSetup.exe.

    2. (Optional) Download the portable version: MultiSense_viewer.zip.

Uninstalling: - Run unins000.exe in the installation folder.

Ubuntu

  1. Ensure you have updated graphics drivers, ffmpeg, and policykit installed. These can be installed via the apt package manager:

    sudo apt install ffmpeg libvulkan1 policykit-1 libgtk-3-0
    
  2. Download and install the appropriate package for your Ubuntu version:
  3. Install the downloaded package using your default package manager or via terminal:

    # For Ubuntu 20.04
    sudo dpkg --install ~/Downloads/multisense_1.1-4_amd64_20.04.deb
    
    # For Ubuntu 22.04
    sudo dpkg --install ~/Downloads/multisense_1.1-4_amd64_22.04.deb
    
  4. Launch through the start menu or run the start script:

    /opt/multisense/start.sh
    

Uninstalling: - Uninstall with your package manager or run the following command:

sudo dpkg --remove com.carnegierobotics.multisense

For more detailed information, refer to the full documentation provided with the release.

Connecting to the MultiSense

The opening screen of Multisense Viewer consists of one option:

Multisense Viewer Login Page

To get started, click “add device” in the bottom right corner.

../_images/connect.png

When clicking “add device” the following screen pops up, allowing the user to configure their network manually or automatically, depending on the user’s preference. In manual mode, the user needs to set up their network by themselves, including setting up Jumbo Frames (increasing the size of the MTU) and selecting the network adapter.

../_images/automatic.png

In automatic mode, the Multisense Viewer will configure the computer’s network setup automatically. Simply click “start” to begin. After clicking start, a pop-up will ask for administrative privileges so that Multisense Viewer can change the network adapter settings to a fixed IP address and to change the MTU. These settings will be returned once the program has been closed.

../_images/automatic_connected.png

After about a minute, if a device is detected on the network, it will appear in the “select device” region. Here, there’s a Multisense S27 attached to the computer.

../_images/connected.png

After clicking “Connect” the camera will appear in the upper left hand corner of the screen. It will says “connecting” while establishing a connection to the camera.

Viewing Live Data

../_images/main.png

Here is the main screen of the Multisense Viewer.

../_images/annotated_main.png

The following important screens are available:

  1. The Preview Control. When selected, this allows the user to configure the way that the preview is set up, and the fundamental camera mode of operation as well as the option to record the image stream

  2. “Sensor Config” is a separate window that allows the user to choose how the sensor is configured (frame rates, exposure settings, and similar).

  3. 2D, means that the viewer is configured to show images (disparity images and left, right, and color, if equipped) images from the camera. These are the actual outputs of the camera.

  4. 3D allows the user to view the 3D data from the camera as a pointcloud. The point cloud is generated on the user’s PC

  5. The dropdown menu(s) at the top right corner of the image box tell the user which of the camera’s image output streams are being shared with the computer.