AprilTag Pipeline Types

PhotonVision offers two different AprilTag pipeline types based on different implementations of the underlying algorithm. Each one has its advantages / disadvantages, which are detailed below.

Note

Note that both of these pipeline types detect AprilTag markers and are just two different algorithms for doing so.

AprilTag

The AprilTag pipeline type is based on the AprilTag library from the University of Michigan and we recommend it for most use cases. It is (to our understanding) most accurate pipeline type, but is also ~2x slower than AruCo. This was the pipeline type used by teams in the 2023 season and is well tested.

AruCo

The AruCo pipeline is based on the AruCo library implementation from OpenCV. It is ~2x higher fps and ~2x lower latency than the AprilTag pipeline type, but is less accurate. We recommend this pipeline type for teams that need to run at a higher framerate or have a lower powered device. This pipeline type is new for the 2024 season and is not as well tested as AprilTag.