Compatibility with Axis V59 (V5925/V5938), M5526-E, and Q1715 models

[DuhoChung]

Hello maintainers and community,

We are considering purchasing an Axis camera for our robotics project. A critical requirement for our project is to integrate and operate the camera within a ROS (Robot Operating System) environment using this driver.

We are currently deciding between the following models:
Axis V59 PTZ Camera (V5925, V5938)
Axis M5526-E PTZ Camera
Axis Q1715 Block Camera

We have checked the GitHub repository and documentation, but we noticed that these specific models are not explicitly listed as "Supported Cameras."

After reading through other issues, it appears that many unlisted Axis cameras may still be compatible because they use a similar interface.

However, before making a purchase, we would like to confirm:
Has anyone successfully tested or used the axis_camera ROS driver with any of the models listed above (V59 series, M5526-E, or Q1715)?
Any confirmation or feedback on compatibility with these models would be greatly appreciated.

Thank you!

[civerachb-cpr]

I don't personally have any experience using the driver with those specific camera models. However, every Axis camera I have used so far has used the same web API, which is what the ROS driver uses to communicate with the camera hardware. I'm not familiar with the specific features of the cameras you listed, so it's possible some features may be unsupported, but the basic pan/tilt/zoom controls and access to the MJPEG stream should work fine.

As a point of comparison, the older version of this driver (intended to work with the fixed & PTZ dome cameras) worked fine for controlling the Q62 camera (PTZ + image stream all worked correctly), but the IR mode, defogger, and wiper were not initially supported. Adding those features was pretty trivial; you can use Axis' web interface and open your browser's debugging panel to see what HTTP(S) endpoints are being accessed when you invoke any unsupported features. Then simply add a new ROS service or topic to act as an interface between ROS and that feature.