CatWatch SDK

AI-powered drone inspection SDK. Connect any camera to the CatWatch platform for real-time VLM analysis (Qwen 2.5-VL), fleet memory, and PDF report generation.

Install

pip install catwatch

Requirements: Python 3.9+, OpenCV, NumPy, websockets

For Raspberry Pi camera support:

pip install catwatch[picamera]

Quick Start

from catwatch import CatWatch

cw = CatWatch("cw_live_YOUR_API_KEY")
cw.connect(source=0, mode="797", unit_serial="797F-001")

@cw.on_analysis
def handle(msg):
    d = msg["data"]
    print(f"[{d['severity']}] {d['description']}")

cw.run()

That's it. Open cw.dashboard_url in a browser to see the live feed with detections, AI analysis, and zone tracking. GPU inference only starts when a viewer connects.

API Reference

CatWatch(api_key, server=None)

Create a CatWatch client.

Param	Type	Description
api_key	str	Your API key from the dashboard (starts with cw_live_)
server	str	Backend URL. Defaults to the hosted platform.

---

cw.connect(source, mode, unit_serial, model, fleet_tag)

Create a session and connect to the inspection backend.

Param	Type	Default	Description
source	int | str | Picamera2	0	Camera index, video file path, RTSP URL, or Picamera2 object
mode	str	"general"	"general" for workplace safety inspection, "797" for CAT 797F defect inspection
unit_serial	str	None	Equipment serial number — enables fleet memory across inspections
model	str	None	Equipment model (e.g. "CAT 797F")
fleet_tag	str	None	Fleet group identifier for cross-unit pattern matching

# USB webcam
cw.connect(source=0)

# Video file
cw.connect(source="inspection_footage.mp4")

# RTSP drone feed
cw.connect(source="rtsp://192.168.1.10:8554/stream")

# Raspberry Pi camera
from picamera2 import Picamera2
cam = Picamera2()
cam.start()
cw.connect(source=cam, mode="797", unit_serial="797F-007")

---

cw.run()

Start the blocking main loop. Captures frames, applies quality gates, encodes, streams to the backend, and dispatches callbacks.

• Stops on Ctrl+C, cw.stop(), or when the operator ends the session from the dashboard
• Skips GPU inference until at least one viewer is connected

cw.connect(source=0)
cw.run()  # blocks until stopped

---

cw.stop()

Stop the inspection, close the WebSocket, and release the camera.

---

Context Manager

with CatWatch("cw_live_...") as cw:
    cw.connect(source=0, mode="797")
    cw.run()
# camera and WebSocket released automatically

---

Properties

Read-only state accessible at any time after connect():

Property	Type	Description
cw.session_id	str	12-character hex session ID
cw.dashboard_url	str	URL to the live dashboard — share with the operator
cw.connected	bool	True if WebSocket is open
cw.mode	str	Current inspection mode ("general" or "797")
cw.zones_seen	frozenset	Zone IDs detected so far
cw.coverage	int	Coverage percentage (0–100)
cw.frame_count	int	Total frames sent to backend
cw.viewers	int	Number of dashboard viewers connected
cw.latest_frame	np.ndarray | None	Most recent BGR frame from the camera

---

Callbacks

Register event handlers using decorators. Each receives a msg dict from the server.

@cw.on_detection

Fires on every YOLO detection cycle.

@cw.on_detection
def handle(msg):
    for det in msg["detections"]:
        print(f"{det['label']} ({det['confidence']:.0%}) zone={det['zone']}")
    print(f"Coverage: {msg['coverage']}/13 zones, YOLO took {msg['yolo_ms']}ms")

msg keys: detections, coverage, total_zones, yolo_ms, frame_id, mode

@cw.on_analysis

Fires when the VLM (Qwen 2.5-VL) analyzes a frame. Runs every ~3 seconds when equipment is in frame.

@cw.on_analysis
def handle(msg):
    d = msg["data"]
    print(f"[{d['severity']}] {d['description']}")
    if d["findings"]:
        print(f"Findings: {d['findings']}")

msg["data"] keys: description, severity (GREEN/YELLOW/RED), findings, callout, confidence, zone

@cw.on_finding

Fires when a finding is recorded and persisted.

@cw.on_finding
def handle(msg):
    f = msg["data"]
    print(f"[{f['rating']}] Zone {f['zone']}: {f['description']}")

msg["data"] keys: zone, rating, description, createdAt, snapshot (base64, for RED/YELLOW only)

@cw.on_zone_first_seen

Fires when a new zone enters the camera frame for the first time.

@cw.on_zone_first_seen
def handle(msg):
    print(f"New zone detected: {msg['zone']}")

@cw.on_voice_answer

Fires when the AI responds to a question asked via cw.ask().

@cw.on_voice_answer
def handle(msg):
    print(f"AI says: {msg['text']}")

@cw.on_report

Fires when report generation completes (triggered by cw.generate_report()).

@cw.on_report
def handle(msg):
    print(f"Report ready: {msg['data']}")

@cw.on_viewer_joined

Fires when an operator opens the dashboard. GPU inference begins at this point.

@cw.on_viewer_joined
def handle(msg):
    print(f"{msg['viewers']} viewer(s) connected — inference active")

@cw.on_mode_change

Fires when the inspection mode is changed (from dashboard or cw.set_mode()).

@cw.on_mode_change
def handle(msg):
    print(f"Mode switched to: {msg['mode']}")

@cw.on_session_ended

Fires when the operator ends the session from the dashboard.

@cw.on_session_ended
def handle(msg):
    d = msg["data"]
    print(f"Session over — {d['zones_inspected']} zones, {d['coverage_pct']}% coverage, {d['findings_count']} findings")

---

Actions

cw.ask(question)

Ask the AI a question about what the camera currently sees. The answer arrives via @cw.on_voice_answer.

cw.ask("Is there any visible damage on the dump body?")

cw.set_mode(mode)

Switch inspection mode live. Raises ValueError if mode is invalid.

cw.set_mode("797")      # switch to CAT 797F inspection mode
cw.set_mode("general")  # switch to workplace safety mode

cw.flip_camera(enabled=True)

Rotate the camera feed 180 degrees. Useful when the camera is mounted upside down on a drone.

cw.flip_camera()        # enable 180° rotation
cw.flip_camera(False)   # back to normal

cw.send_sensor(data)

Send auxiliary sensor telemetry to enrich the AI analysis.

cw.send_sensor({
    "audio": {"anomaly_score": 0.3},
    "ir": {"anomaly_score": 0.1},
    "light": {"quality": "good"},
})

cw.generate_report(...)

Trigger a full inspection report. The result arrives via @cw.on_report.

cw.generate_report(
    model="CAT 797F",
    serial="797F-001",
    technician="John",
    hours=3847,
    duration_minutes=45,
)

cw.send(payload)

Send a raw JSON dict through the WebSocket for advanced use cases.

cw.send({"type": "request_vlm_analysis"})

---

Fleet Memory

When you pass unit_serial to connect(), the platform tracks inspection history for that unit across sessions using Supermemory:

cw.connect(source=0, mode="797", unit_serial="797F-001", fleet_tag="fleet_alpha")

On subsequent inspections of the same unit:

• The AI sees prior findings and can detect progression (e.g. YELLOW → RED)
• Zone briefs include what was found last time
• Fleet-wide patterns are surfaced (e.g. "3 other units had hoist cylinder seal failures at similar hours")

---

Frame Pipeline

The SDK handles frame optimization automatically:

Setting	Default	Description
Frame rate	~15 FPS	Configurable via FRAME_INTERVAL
JPEG quality	70	Lower = smaller frames, faster sends
Stream width	640px	Downscaled before encoding
Blur threshold	100.0	Frames below this sharpness are skipped
Motion threshold	1.0	Static frames are skipped (force-sent after 150ms)

Frames are sent as binary WebSocket messages (13-byte header + raw JPEG) with zero base64 overhead.

---

Full Example

from catwatch import CatWatch

cw = CatWatch("cw_live_YOUR_KEY")
cw.connect(
    source=0,
    mode="797",
    unit_serial="797F-001",
    model="CAT 797F",
    fleet_tag="site_alpha",
)
cw.flip_camera()  # if camera is mounted upside down

print(f"Dashboard: {cw.dashboard_url}")

@cw.on_detection
def on_det(msg):
    print(f"{len(msg['detections'])} objects | {msg['coverage']}/13 zones")

@cw.on_analysis
def on_analysis(msg):
    d = msg["data"]
    print(f"[{d['severity']}] {d['description']}")

@cw.on_finding
def on_finding(msg):
    f = msg["data"]
    print(f"FINDING [{f['rating']}] {f['zone']}: {f['description']}")

@cw.on_zone_first_seen
def on_zone(msg):
    print(f"New zone: {msg['zone']} ({len(cw.zones_seen)}/13)")

@cw.on_viewer_joined
def on_viewer(msg):
    print(f"Operator connected ({msg['viewers']} viewers)")

@cw.on_session_ended
def on_end(msg):
    d = msg["data"]
    print(f"Done — {d['coverage_pct']}% coverage, {d['findings_count']} findings")

cw.run()