Cameras allow an FTC robot to see its environment.

FTC supports USB Video Class (UVC) webcams for computer vision. In theory, any UVC-compatible camera can work with the FTC SDK, although some cameras have better support and built-in calibration than others.

There are also dedicated vision devices such as the Limelight 3A, which perform vision processing on their own hardware instead of using FTC's VisionPortal.

The best camera depends on what your robot needs to see.

Logitech C270

The Logitech C270 is one of the most common cameras in FTC.

FIRST describes it as the "workhorse webcam" for FTC because it is inexpensive, reliable, and widely available. It has a 60° field of view and can capture up to 720p at 30 FPS.

Advantages

• Very inexpensive
• Widely available
• Reliable
• Supported directly by VisionPortal
• Built-in FTC calibration at 640 × 480

Disadvantages

• Lower image quality than more expensive webcams
• Fixed focus
• Relatively narrow field of view
• Only 30 FPS at 720p

Best for

The C270 is a good choice for:

• AprilTag detection
• Basic color detection
• Simple object detection
• Beginner vision systems

For teams that simply need a reliable webcam without spending much money, the C270 is difficult to beat.

Logitech C920

The Logitech C920 is one of the most popular higher-quality webcams used in FTC.

It has a 78° field of view and can capture 1080p video at 30 FPS. Unlike the C270 and C310, it also has autofocus and a 1/4-inch threaded mounting point.

Advantages

• 1080p at 30 FPS
• Wider field of view
• Autofocus
• Good image quality
• Multiple mounting options
• Extensive FTC calibration support

The FTC SDK includes built-in calibration for several C920 resolutions, including:

640 × 480
640 × 360
800 × 448
800 × 600
864 × 480
1920 × 1080

Disadvantages

• More expensive than the C270
• Autofocus can be slow
• Higher USB power consumption
• More computationally expensive at higher resolutions

Best for

The C920 is a strong general-purpose choice for:

• AprilTag detection
• Localization
• Object detection
• Color detection
• Long-range vision

For many teams, the C920 provides a good balance between image quality, price, and compatibility.

Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000

The Microsoft LifeCam HD-3000 is an older budget webcam that has been used in FIRST robotics for many years.

The FTC SDK specifically supports versions 1 and 2 of the camera. It has a 68.5° field of view and supports up to 720p at 30 FPS.

Advantages

• Inexpensive
• Widely used in robotics
• 68.5° field of view
• 720p at 30 FPS
• Built-in calibration at 640 × 480

Disadvantages

• Older hardware
• Limited image quality
• Limited calibration support

Best for

The LifeCam HD-3000 can be useful if a team already has one available.

There is generally little reason to specifically purchase one over a C270 or C920 today.

Global Shutter Cameras

Most webcams use a rolling shutter.

With a rolling shutter, different rows of the image sensor are captured at slightly different times.

Rolling Shutter

Row 1     ── captured
Row 2        ── captured
Row 3           ── captured
Row 4              ── captured

When the camera or object is moving quickly, this can cause distortion.

A global shutter captures the entire image at essentially the same time.

Global Shutter

Row 1 ──┐
Row 2 ──┤
Row 3 ──┤ captured together
Row 4 ──┘

This makes global shutter cameras particularly useful for fast-moving FTC robots.

Arducam OV9281 Global Shutter

The Arducam OV9281 Global Shutter 120 FPS is a monochrome camera designed for high-speed vision.

It can reach over 100 FPS in MJPEG mode at full resolution and uses a global shutter, which significantly reduces motion blur.

Advantages

• Global shutter
• Very high frame rate
• Low motion blur
• Good low-light performance
• Low-distortion lens
• Useful for fast object tracking

Disadvantages

• Monochrome
• No built-in FTC camera calibration
• More complicated setup
• Not ideal for applications requiring color

Supported resolutions include:

MJPEG:
320 × 240
640 × 480
800 × 600
1280 × 720
1280 × 800

YUY2:
1280 × 720
1280 × 800

The FTC documentation notes that the OV9281 required SDK/EasyOpenCV changes for high-speed operation and is not guaranteed to work correctly with SDK versions before 9.0.

Best for

• Fast object tracking
• Motion detection
• High-speed vision
• Applications where motion blur is a problem

It is less suitable when the robot needs reliable color information.

Kayeton Global Shutter Cameras

Kayeton produces several global shutter USB cameras that can be used with FTC.

The FTC documentation identifies Kayeton global shutter cameras as tested examples of UVC global shutter cameras. The listed configuration has approximately a 70° field of view and can reach around 120 FPS at 720p in MJPEG.

Advantages

• Global shutter
• High frame rate
• Reduced motion distortion
• Available in different configurations

Disadvantages

• No built-in FTC calibration
• Model specifications vary
• Requires more setup than common Logitech webcams

Best for

• Fast-moving robots
• Motion tracking
• Custom vision systems
• Teams comfortable calibrating their own cameras

ELP Global Shutter Cameras

ELP also produces global shutter USB cameras that have been tested with FTC.

The FTC documentation lists an ELP global shutter camera with approximately a 70° field of view and up to 90 FPS at 1920 × 1200 in MJPEG.

Advantages

• Global shutter
• High frame rate
• Higher resolution than some global shutter alternatives
• Reduced motion distortion

Disadvantages

• No built-in FTC calibration
• Model specifications vary
• Requires additional calibration for accurate pose estimation

Best for

• High-speed vision
• Object tracking
• Custom computer vision
• Applications where rolling-shutter distortion is a problem

Other UVC Webcams

The cameras above are not the only cameras that work with FTC.

The FTC SDK supports UVC-compatible webcams in general. Many modern webcams are UVC compatible even if they do not explicitly advertise it.

However, there is an important difference between:

Works with FTC

and:

Has FTC calibration data

A UVC camera may work perfectly for tasks such as:

• Color detection
• Object detection
• Image processing

without having FTC calibration data.

However, accurate AprilTag pose estimation requires appropriate camera calibration.

If your camera is not calibrated for the resolution you are using, you may need to create your own calibration file.

Limelight 3A

The Limelight 3A is fundamentally different from a normal USB webcam.

Instead of sending raw camera frames to the Robot Controller for processing, the Limelight contains its own processor and performs vision processing on the device.

Normal Webcam:

Camera
   ↓
Robot Controller
   ↓
VisionPortal
   ↓
Vision Processor
   ↓
Result


Limelight 3A:

Camera
   ↓
Limelight
   ↓
Onboard Processing
   ↓
Result

This can significantly reduce the processing work performed by the Robot Controller.

The Limelight can provide information such as:

• AprilTag detections
• Target position
• Target orientation
• Robot pose
• Vision pipeline results

Advantages

• Dedicated vision processor
• AprilTag processing
• Low load on Robot Controller
• Web-based configuration
• Advanced vision pipelines
• Designed specifically for robotics

Disadvantages

• More expensive than a basic webcam
• Separate software and API
• Not compatible with VisionPortal
• Consumes power continuously when connected

The FTC documentation specifically notes that the Limelight 3A is not a VisionPortal device. It can be used alongside a VisionPortal webcam, but it cannot be treated as a switchable VisionPortal camera.

Best for

• AprilTag localization
• High-performance vision
• Teams that want onboard processing
• Advanced autonomous systems

Phone Cameras

FTC also supports the camera built into an Android phone when the phone is being used as the Robot Controller.

This does not require an external webcam.

Phone Camera
     ↓
VisionPortal
     ↓
Vision Processor

The built-in phone camera can be used with VisionPortal for tasks such as AprilTags and color processing.

However, Control Hubs do not have a built-in camera, so Control Hub robots normally use an external UVC webcam or a dedicated vision device.

Camera Comparison