ros2-picamera2-docker

Docker image for picamera2 on Raspberry Pi 5, built on top of the official ros:jazzy-ros-base image. This can be useful for ros integration.

Requirements

• Raspberry Pi 5 (64-bit OS, e.g. Ubuntu 24.04 or Raspberry Pi OS)
• Raspberry Pi Camera Module (tested with IMX708 / Camera Module 3)

Connect your camera

Raspberry Pi OS

If you are running Raspberry Pi OS, all you need to do is to physically connect the camera to the SPI connector. Then you can check if your camera is installed properly in terminal:

rpicam-hello --list-cameras

Ubuntu 24.04

You will need extra steps to connect the camera in Ubuntu OS.

tee -a /boot/firmware/config.txt >/dev/null <<EOF
dtoverlay=imx708,cam0
dtoverlay=vc4-kms-v3d
EOF

Install docker

Option 1 - Pull from docker hub

docker pull anthonyzyj/ros2-picamera2-docker:jazzy

Option 2 - Build from source

Build on the Pi (same CPU architecture as the robot):

git clone https://github.com/ICE9-Robotics/ros2-picamera2-docker.git
cd ros2-picamera2-docker
docker build -t ros2-picamera2:latest .

The build takes a while (compiles libcamera and kmsxx). It fails early if Python bindings are broken.

Run the container

mkdir mnt

docker run -it --rm \
  --privileged \
  -v /run/udev:/run/udev:ro \
  -v "$(pwd)/mnt:/root/mnt" \
  ros2-picamera2:latest \
  bash

dma_heap permissions

If you see PermissionError: '/dev/dma_heap/linux,cma', the container user cannot open the DMA heap. For development you can temporarily run:

sudo chmod 666 /dev/dma_heap/linux,cma /dev/dma_heap/system

For production, add a udev rule:

sudo tee /etc/udev/rules.d/99-picamera2-dma-heap.rules >/dev/null <<EOF
SUBSYSTEM=="dma_heap", GROUP="video", MODE="0660"
EOF
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

Capture a test image

Inside the container:

python3 /root/capture_headless.py

This saves demo.jpg in the container working directory.

License

MIT — see LICENSE.