Video Capture and Telemetry Recording System
Development of a modular video acquisition and recording framework for aerospace applications — integrating camera capture, GPS/INS telemetry, interpolation logic, and HDF5-based data logging on an embedded CM5 platform.
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Overview
This project focuses on the design of a video capture and telemetry recording system built for aerospace applications,
running on a CM5 embedded platform under Linux.
The system captures video frames in real time, attaches GPS and INS telemetry data, and stores them efficiently in HDF5 format on an NVMe drive.
Operators connect remotely through VNC to monitor the live feed and control the recording process.
Responsibilities
- Designed and implemented a modular architecture combining camera, telemetry, and recording subsystems.
- Integrated V4L2 camera capture with frame timestamping and buffering.
- Developed a Qt6 GUI accessible remotely via VNC, providing live video and control buttons.
- Built a publisher–subscriber communication model for safe multithreaded data flow.
- Implemented GPS and INS data synchronization — with interpolation logic to align slower INS data with high-rate camera frames.
- Developed HDF5-based data logging, where each frame is stored with its associated metadata and telemetry information.
- Managed NVMe storage and file integrity through threaded recorders.
Achievements
- Created a fully working framework demonstrating real-time video + telemetry recording.
- Achieved deterministic synchronization between camera and inertial data.
- Validated architecture for defense and aerospace-grade reliability.
- Produced system-level documentation and architecture diagrams for PDR review.
- The design enables future ROS2 integration and GPU-accelerated video decoding.
Tech Stack
- Language: C++17
- Frameworks: Qt6 (Widgets), HDF5, HighFive
- Hardware: CM5 SoM, NVMe SSD, GPS/INS sensors
- OS: Embedded Linux
- APIs: V4L2 (Video), Serial/I²C (Telemetry), ThreadSafeQueue
- Architecture: Publisher–Subscriber pattern, RAII ownership
- Build System: CMake
- GUI Access: VNC remote display
System Highlights
- VNC-Based GUI: Operated remotely from a laptop without local peripherals.
- Frame–Telemetry Alignment: Each captured frame includes interpolated GPS position and INS measurements.
- HDF5 Data Storage: Hierarchical datasets for images, telemetry, and GPS info.
- Threaded Execution: Independent camera, recorder, and GUI threads communicating via safe queues.
- Extensible Design: Allows integration of ROS2, network streaming, or analytics modules.