Version

8. Frequently Asked Questions

Insufficient Power Supply:

Ensure that each camera is connected to a separate hub.
Use a powered hub to provide sufficient power to each camera.

High Resolution:

Try lowering the resolution to resolve data stream issues.

Increase usbfs_memory_mb Value:

Increase the usbfs_memory_mb value to 128MB (this is a reference value and can be adjusted based on your system’s needs). By running the following command: if the node crashes unexpectedly, it will generate a crash log in the current run directory: ~/.ros/Log/camera_crash_stack_trace_xx.log. In addition, regardless of whether the camera node crashes, OrbbecSDK will always generate a log file: ~/.ros/Log/OrbbecSDK.log.txt, which contains detailed records of SDK operations.

Please send these log files to the support team or submit them in a GitHub issue for further assistance.

8.1. No Data Stream from Multiple Cameras

Insufficient Power Supply:

Ensure that each camera is connected to a separate hub.
Use a powered hub to provide sufficient power to each camera.

High Resolution:

Try lowering the resolution to resolve data stream issues.

Increase usbfs_memory_mb Value:

Increase the usbfs_memory_mb value to 128MB (this is a reference value and can be adjusted based on your system’s needs) by running the following command:

    echo 128 | sudo tee /sys/module/usbcore/parameters/usbfs_memory_mb

To make this change permanent, check this link.

8.2. Compilation Failure Due to OpenCV Version Issues

In some cases, you may have multiple versions of OpenCV on your host, which can lead to compilation failures. You can resolve this by specifying the OpenCV version. Find the CMakeLists.txt file in the cmake folder and locate the following code:

find_package(OpenCV REQUIRED)

Either add OpenCV_dir or specify the version before it:

find_package(OpenCV 4.2.0 REQUIRED)

Or:

set(OpenCV_DIR "/path_to_your_opencv_dir")
find_package(OpenCV REQUIRED)

8.3. How to Collect and Save Logs

Follow these steps to collect logs:

Set the launch parameter log_level to debug. To save ROS 1 logs, also change the node’s output="screen" to “log” or “both”.
Start the camera, reproduce the issue, and note when the issue occurred.
Send both of the following to technical support:
- SDK logs: the log files under ~/.ros/Log/<camera_name>/ that match the time of the issue.
- ROS 1 logs: the entire ~/.ros/log/<run_id>/ directory created by this run.

SDK log files are named with the startup time by default. For multiple cameras, or if you are unsure which files are relevant, send all logs newly generated during the test. If the node crashed, also send the crash stack trace from the camera’s log directory. Set enable_heartbeat to true only when technical support asks for firmware logs.

8.3.1. Details for Developers

SDK logs

SDK logs are stored under ~/.ros/Log/<camera_name>/.
When log_file_name is empty, the log file is named after the node startup time in the format <YYYYMMDD_HHMMSS>.log, for example ~/.ros/Log/camera/20260713_143025.log.
When log_file_name is specified, the resulting path is ~/.ros/Log/<camera_name>/<log_file_name>.
In multi-camera setups, SDK logs are stored in separate directories by camera_name.
If the node crashes unexpectedly, the crash stack trace is also saved in the corresponding camera directory.
To collect firmware logs, set log_level to debug and enable_heartbeat to true.

ROS 1 logs

After changing the node’s output="screen" to output="log", logs are stored under ~/.ros/log/<run_id>/.
roslaunch-*.log records the roslaunch startup flow and node launch information.
master.log is the ROS master log.
rosout.log aggregates output from all nodes. In multi-camera setups, identify each camera by its namespace or node name, for example /ob_camera_01/camera and /ob_camera_02/camera.

8.4. Why Are There So Many Launch Files?

Different cameras have varying default resolutions and image formats.
To simplify usage, each camera has its own launch file.

8.5. How to Launch a Specific Camera When Multiple Cameras Are Connected

While the launch file did not explicitly specify which device to use. In that case, the driver will connect to the default device.

You can check the serial number of your device by running:

rosrun orbbec_camera list_devices_node

Then launch with the serial number explicitly set, for example:

roslaunch orbbec_camera femto_bolt.launch serial_number:=CL8H741005J

8.6. Why Is It Necessary to Add Delays When Starting Multiple Cameras or Switching Streams?

Multi-camera systems place high demands on USB bandwidth and device initialization timing. If multiple camera streams are started or switched simultaneously, it may cause temporary bandwidth congestion, leading to device initialization failures, stream startup errors, or frame drops. To ensure system stability, the following practices are recommended:

Multi-camera startup phase

When starting multiple cameras, it is recommended to introduce an appropriate delay between each camera startup (e.g., 2 seconds) to avoid instantaneous bandwidth overload or low-level device initialization conflicts.
Stream enable/disable and mode switching phase

When invoking stream control services (such as set_streams_enable, toggle_depth, and toggle_color), avoid triggering multiple service calls at the same time. Instead, introduce a reasonable interval between operations (e.g., 20 ms) to ensure reliable stream state transitions.

Following these timing control guidelines can significantly improve the stability of multi-camera systems during startup and runtime, reducing errors and unexpected behavior.

8.7. The image does not reach the preset frame rate

First you need to confirm whether the image does not reach the preset frame rate. There are several ways to view framerate in ROS1, such as:

rostopic hz
rqt
Custom tools (such as the benchmark tool provided by this ROS package)

It should be noted that different tools have different statistical methods and QoS configurations, so the frame rate results obtained may be different. When you find that the frame rate is lower than expected, please prioritize whether the error is caused by the frame rate statistics tool itself.

If you confirm that the image frame rate does not reach the preset value, you can try the following troubleshooting steps:

Reduce the resolution or frame rate to determine whether the frame rate is reduced due to USB/network bandwidth limitations;
Confirm whether the camera firmware version and ROS package version are the latest. Older versions may have performance or compatibility issues.

If the above methods still cannot solve the problem, please contact our company FAE, or submit an issue in GitHub Issue for further support.