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Sensor Data

Sensor data is always stored external to the annotation file. Arrow, Parquet, and JSON files contain annotations only — sensor data lives in sibling folders or ZIP files.

Sensor Types

Sensor Extension Notes
Camera .camera.jpeg, .camera.png JPEG (default) or PNG (lossless)
Radar cube .radar.png 16-bit PNG encoding of complex int16 data
Radar PCD .radar.pcd Point cloud data
LiDAR PCD .lidar.pcd Point cloud data

Removed in 2026.04

The .lidar.png (depth map) and .lidar.jpeg (reflectivity) projected visualization formats have been removed from the format specification in 2026.04. The SDK retains read support for backward compatibility but will not write these types. Consumers that need depth or reflectivity images should project LiDAR PCD data directly.

Camera

Format: JPEG (default) or PNG (lossless)

Source: H.265 video from MCAP converted to discrete frames

EXIF metadata (embedded in images):

  • GPS coordinates (from MCAP /gps topic or NavSat)
  • Capture timestamp
  • Camera parameters
  • Device information

File extensions:

  • .camera.jpeg — camera image (default)
  • .camera.png — camera image (lossless)
  • .jpg, .png — generic image formats

Radar

Point Cloud Data

Format: PCD (Point Cloud Data)

Extension: .radar.pcd

Fields:

x, y, z          # Cartesian position (meters)
speed            # Velocity (m/s)
power            # Signal power
noise            # Noise level
rcs              # Radar cross-section

Radar Data Cube

Format: 16-bit PNG (lossless encoding of complex int16 data)

Extension: .radar.png

Dimensions: [sequence, rx_antenna, range_bins, doppler_bins]

Typical shape: [2, 4, 200, 256]

PNG encoding:

  • 4 x 2 grid layout (4 columns = RX antennas, 2 rows = sequences)
  • Complex int16 split into pair of int16 values (PNG does not support complex)
  • int16 shifted to uint16 for PNG storage (shift back to int16 for processing)
  • Double-width matrices (complex pairs)
  • Output size: 2048 x 400 pixels for standard cube

LiDAR

Format: PCD (Point Cloud Data)

Extension: .lidar.pcd

Configuration: Based on Maivin MCAP Recorder settings.

Projected visualizations removed

Prior versions of EdgeFirst supported .lidar.png (depth map) and .lidar.jpeg (reflectivity) files that contained 2D projections of LiDAR point cloud data. These have been removed in 2026.04. If your pipeline requires depth or reflectivity images, project the PCD data using the LiDAR sensor calibration parameters.