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Sensing, Vision & Data Capture

Multimodal Data Capture & Hardware Time Sync Guide

Prepare camera, LiDAR, joint-state, telemetry, trigger, timestamping, host bandwidth and storage inputs for multimodal robot data capture reviews.

Who should use this

Robot learning, VLA, imitation learning, teleoperation and embodied AI laboratories building multimodal data capture rigs.

Hardware decision

The guide defines capture interfaces and hardware timing requirements while keeping dataset, model and latency validation outside the sourcing scope.

Prepare before RFQ

Bring GMSL2 or USB3 camera channels, LiDAR or depth streams, joint-state and telemetry streams, frame rates, point-cloud rates, trigger requirements, host input bandwidth, NVMe logging and export format.

Use this guide for RFQ preparation Start related hardware review

When to use this guide

Start here if the hardware question affects sourcing, files or RFQ review.

  • A capture stack combines visual, range, joint-state and telemetry streams that must be reviewed together.
  • Hardware trigger, PTP or timestamping requirements affect sensor, network, host or harness selection.
  • Interface maps, SDK records or controlled files are needed before a data-capture RFQ.

Key engineering decisions

Channel and stream inventory

List GMSL2 or USB3 camera channels, LiDAR, depth, joint-state and master-slave telemetry streams with source rates.

Hardware time inputs

PTP / IEEE 1588, PPS when supplied, hardware trigger and timestamping requirements can be captured as customer-supplied review inputs when multimodal data streams must be aligned.

Host and storage throughput

Estimate host input bandwidth, bus allocation, NVMe throughput, recording duration and available storage margin.

Export and dataset boundary

Identify requested data export format and capture ownership without implying dataset suitability or model-training results.

RFQ preparation checklist

Include these inputs before asking for quote or document review.

  • Camera channel count and GMSL2 / USB3 interface
  • LiDAR / depth sensor streams
  • Joint-state stream
  • Master-slave telemetry link
  • Customer-supplied PTP / IEEE 1588 and PPS requirement when applicable
  • Hardware trigger and timestamping
  • Frame rate, resolution and point-cloud rate
  • Host input bandwidth, NVMe logging and data export format

Engineering file considerations

Document access depends on file type and review context.

  • Interface maps and SDK or driver records should be tied to the capture channel inventory.
  • Original sensor drawings, host interface records and supplier-sensitive files may require controlled access review.
  • Documentation support does not validate dataset quality, synchronization accuracy or model outcomes.
Review Engineering Files workflow Read Access Policy

Not covered by this guide

Dataset suitability, model convergence, imitation-learning performance or VLA training outcomes
Autonomous operation safety or autonomy performance guarantees
Remote-operation certification or haptic latency guarantees

Ready to attach this guide to a real request?

Use the guide checklist to submit one RFQ with product, file and subsystem context. Controlled access may apply to STEP/STP, native CAD, full drawings and supplier-sensitive records.

Use guide for RFQ preparation