Linux Camera Skill

Camera capture skill for Linux systems. Supports USB webcams (V4L2) and network cameras (RTSP).

Skill directory: INLINECODE0

Dependencies

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Scripts

0. Quick photo (camera_photo.py) — simplest way to take a photo

No flags needed. Just run it.

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Camera aliases: front = /dev/video0, back = /dev/video2. Output goes to /tmp/ by default.

1. List available cameras (camera_list.py)

Detects all V4L2 video devices and prints their names, paths, and supported formats.

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Parameter	Description	Default
INLINECODE8	Output as JSON	off

2. Take a snapshot (camera_snap.py) — primary, recommended

Captures a single frame from a camera and saves it as a JPEG.

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Parameter	Description	Default
INLINECODE10	V4L2 device path	INLINECODE11
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RTSP URL (use instead of --device for IP cameras) | — |
| --output | Output file path | /tmp/camera_snap.jpg |
| --width | Capture width | 1280 |
| --height | Capture height | 720 |
| --warmup | Warmup frames to skip (for exposure adjustment) | 5 |
| --quality | JPEG quality (1–100) | 90 |

3. Record a video clip (camera_clip.py)

Records a video clip from a camera.

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Parameter	Description	Default
INLINECODE25	V4L2 device path	INLINECODE26
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RTSP URL (use instead of --device for IP cameras) | — |
| --output | Output file path | /tmp/camera_clip.mp4 |
| --duration | Recording duration in seconds | 5 |
| --width | Capture width | 1280 |
| --height | Capture height | 720 |
| --fps | Frames per second | 30 |

4. Live streaming (camera_stream.py)

Multi-format live streaming server. Supports MJPEG (low-latency), HLS (adaptive, mobile-friendly), and RTSP re-streaming.

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Open http://<device-ip>:8090 in a browser to view the MJPEG stream.

Parameter	Description	Default
INLINECODE41	V4L2 device path	INLINECODE42
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RTSP input URL (use instead of --device for IP cameras) | — |
| --port | HTTP server port | 8090 |
| --width | Capture width | 640 |
| --height | Capture height | 480 |
| --fps | Target frames per second | 15 |
| --enable-hls | Enable HLS output (adaptive bitrate, mobile-friendly) | off |
| --enable-rtsp | Enable RTSP re-stream output | off |
| --rtsp-port | RTSP server port (when --enable-rtsp is used) | 8554 |

Endpoints:

URL	Description
INLINECODE58	MJPEG stream (works in <img> tags and browsers)
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Single JPEG snapshot |
| http://<ip>:8090/hls | HLS live page (requires --enable-hls) |
| http://<ip>:8090/hls/stream.m3u8 | HLS playlist for VLC or mobile players |
| rtsp://<ip>:8554/live | RTSP stream (requires --enable-rtsp) |
| http://<ip>:8090/status | JSON status (frame age, size, active outputs) |

Examples

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Multiple cameras

If you have multiple cameras (e.g. /dev/video0 and /dev/video2), specify the device:

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Coordinate with robot arm

Combine with the soarm-control skill to look at something and take a photo:

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