NightHawk : Active Illumination Control [ISER 25']

This is a work in progress. The code is not yet ready for use.

Features

• 🎯 Bayesian Optimization for camera exposure and lighting control
• 🔍 Feature-based utility metric to evaluate image utility
• 🤖 ROS2 Integration
• 🧠 Event-triggered recursive optimization pipeline
• 🧪 Field-tested on a legged robot in culvert environments

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Directory Structure

NH/
├── camera_control/              # Camera hardware drivers
│   ├── auto_shutter.py
│   └── flir_control.py
│
├── light_control/              # Illumination control logic
│   └── light_meter.py
│
├── teensy_meter_driver/        # Firmware for Teensy-based light meter
│   └── teensy_meter_driver.ino
│
├── nighthawk_ros/              # Main ROS package
│   ├── config/
│   │   └── params.yml
│   ├── launch/
│   │   └── nighthawk_ros_launch.py
│   ├── nighthawk_ros/
│   │   ├── __init__.py
│   │   ├── image_writer.py
│   │   ├── light_control_ros.py
│   │   ├── nighthawk_ros.py
│   │   ├── nighthawk_score_node.py
│   │   └── score.py
│   └── resource/
│       └── nighthawk_ros
│
├── utils/                      # Frontend/processing utilities
│   ├── exposure-scaler.ts
│   ├── state-process.ts
│   └── NightHawk.json
│
├── setup.py, setup.cfg         # Python package configuration
├── package.xml                 # ROS package metadata
├── .gitignore
└── README.md

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Installation

Prerequisites

• ROS2 (Humble Recommended)
• Python 3.8+
• Teensyduino (for Teensy microcontroller)
• FLIR camera SDK (if applicable)

Install Dependencies

If using Python:

Coming soong!

If using ROS:

source /opt/ros/humble/setup.bash
colcon build --symlink-install
source install/setup.bash

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Hardware Integration

• Camera: Controlled via camera_control/flir_control.py
• Light Meter: Teensy driver in teensy_meter_driver.ino
• Lighting System: Managed via light_control/light_meter.py

Ensure proper connection to the robot’s onboard hardware before launching the pipeline.

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Usage

Launch NightHawk

ros2 launch nighthawk_ros nighthawk_ros_launch.py

Run Individual Nodes

ros2 run nighthawk_ros shared_memory_writer # Subscribes to image and writes to shared memory

ros2 run nighthawk_ros nighthawk_score_node # Subscribes to image and publishes Mfeat score (based on R2D2)

ros2 run nighthawk_ros light_control_ros # Runs LED light control node

ros2 run nighthawk_ros nighthawk_ros # Runs main nighthawk node for active illumination control

# Optional 

ros2 run foxglove_bridge foxglove_bridge --ros-args -p topic_whitelist:='["/flir_camera/image_raw", "/flir_camera/meta", "/led_driver/value", "/light_control_ros/transition_event", "/nighthawk/optimal", "/nighthawk/score", "/nighthawk/state", "/parameter_events", "/rosout"]' # Foxglove visualization

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License

MIT License

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Contact

For inquiries or collaborations, please reach out to:
[Yash Turkar] – [[email protected]]