Add a New Camera#

DexSuite supports two camera types:

Static cameras: fixed in the world (good for front or overhead views)
Dynamic cameras: attached to a robot link (wrist views)

You can add cameras in two ways:

One-off in Python (no config files changed)
As a reusable preset in Dexsuite/dexsuite/config/env_configs/cameras.yaml

Option 1: Add a one-off camera in Python#

This is the easiest way to experiment.

import dexsuite as ds
from dexsuite.options import CamerasOptions, StaticCamOptions

cameras = CamerasOptions(
    static={
        "my_front": StaticCamOptions(
            pos=(1.2, 0.0, 0.6),
            lookat=(0.4, 0.0, 0.2),
            fov=65.0,
            res=(320, 240),
        ),
    },
    dynamic={},
    modalities=("rgb",),
)

env = ds.make(
    "lift",
    manipulator="franka",
    gripper="robotiq",
    arm_control="osc_pose",
    gripper_control="joint_position",
    cameras=cameras,
    render_mode=None,
)
obs, info = env.reset()
obs, reward, terminated, truncated, info = env.step(env.action_space.sample())
env.close()

Option 2: Add a static camera preset (cameras.yaml)#

Static camera presets live under the static: key.

Edit:

Dexsuite/dexsuite/config/env_configs/cameras.yaml

Add an entry:

static:
  my_front:
    pos: [1.2, 0.0, 0.6]
    lookat: [0.4, 0.0, 0.2]
    fov: 65
    res: [320, 240]

Use it from the flat API:

import dexsuite as ds

env = ds.make(
    "lift",
    manipulator="franka",
    gripper="robotiq",
    arm_control="osc_pose",
    gripper_control="joint_position",
    cameras=("my_front", "wrist"),
    modalities=("rgb",),
    render_mode=None,
)

Dynamic camera presets (wrist cameras)#

Dynamic presets live under the dynamic: key. They define:

fov and res for the camera
A default block with pos_offset and optional quat_offset
An optional by block to override offsets per gripper (or per manipulator for integrated robots)

Example:

dynamic:
  my_wrist_cam:
    fov: 60
    res: [224, 224]
    default:
      pos_offset: [0.00, 0.10, -0.03]
      quat_offset: [1.00, 0.00, 0.00, 0.00]
    by:
      robotiq:
        pos_offset: [0.00, 0.14, 0.00]

Using a dynamic preset#

The flat cameras=("wrist", ...) path always uses the built-in wrist_cam preset. To use your own preset, pass a dexsuite.options.CamerasOptions object:

import dexsuite as ds
from dexsuite.options import CamerasOptions

cameras = CamerasOptions(
    static={"front": "front"},
    dynamic={"wrist": "my_wrist_cam"},
    modalities=("rgb",),
)

env = ds.make(
    "lift",
    manipulator="franka",
    gripper="robotiq",
    arm_control="osc_pose",
    gripper_control="joint_position",
    cameras=cameras,
    render_mode=None,
)

For bimanual robots, a generic dynamic name like "wrist" is expanded to left and right. If you need different left and right offsets, pass explicit DynamicCamOptions objects with names like left_wrist and right_wrist.

Notes and troubleshooting#

Static camera positions are in world coordinates.
Dynamic camera offsets are in the attached link frame (typically the gripper root link).
If you add a new preset and it is not found, double check YAML indentation and keys.