Ping1D data logging under Cockpit

Blue Robotics Software
1

Hello,

My question is simple: is it possible to record the sonar ping data along with the video and telemetry data for later processing ?

Thanks

2

Hi @Alex_J!

Partly, depending on what you mean by “ping data” and the format you want it in.

Cockpit can log telemetry on a configurable interval and tie it to a video recording. When a recording finishes, it generates a subtitle (.ass) file containing the logged values, sliced to match the video’s timeline. That subtitle file downloads alongside the video from the Video Library, and you can overlay/burn it into the footage afterwards (e.g. with HandBrake) or parse it for post-processing.

So if you just need the distance/altitude value from the Ping1D: as long as that reading is reaching Cockpit (e.g. forwarded to the autopilot as a rangefinder/DISTANCE_SENSOR MAVLink message), you can add it to the telemetry overlay configuration and it will be logged and exported with your video.

Setup steps are in the docs:

A couple of important caveats:

  • Telemetry logging is currently tied to video recording. The exported artifact is the .ass subtitle file generated when a recording completes — there’s no separate “export raw telemetry log” option today. I have opened a draft PR for that and I will be opening it to be reviewed and merged during the course of this week, as its a feature that is on our roadmap for this month.
  • Cockpit doesn’t capture the raw acoustic profile from the Ping1D (the full echo/waveform data) — only scalar values like the distance reading. If you need the full waveform recording, use the Ping Viewer Next BlueOS extension, which has built-in recording functionality for the raw sonar data.

Let us know if you have any further questions on how to setup everything.

3

Hello,

Thanks for the answer.

I was hopping to record the full waveform, so maybe ping viewer will be my only option, but it’s not as user friendly as other telemetry.

I will check how to do.

Bye

4

Hi @Alex_J -

To clarify - pingviewer next is different than ping viewer! The former is a new BlueOS extension, the latter is the older, standalone application for communicating with Blue Robotics Ping sonar devices…