Intel Depth Sensor

[idata]

What are the Intel Depth Sensor models? Would like to know the basics that the Intel cameras are built on.

[MartyG · Accepted solution]

Here's the basics of the models, listed in order of oldest to newest:

F200 - indoor desktop camera. Now retired and unavailable for purchase.

R200 - suited to indoors and outdoors. Best at scanning larger objects and the human body. No longer supported by the RealSense SDK but still usable with the older '2016 R2' SDK.

SR300 - indoor desktop camera. The next-generation successor to the F200. Suited to scanning small objects.

ZR300 - next generation successor of the R200, can be used indoors and outdoors, and perform robotics navigation operations such as SLAM. Multiple ZR300's can be used without them interfering with each other. Only usable with Linux and Librealsense or the RealSense SDK For Linux (which has Librealsense incorporated into it as a module).

D415 and D435 - indoor and outdoor cameras being released in September 2017. Contains the most powerful RealSense technology yet, with real-time sensing suited to autonomous vehicles. Will use a new RealSense SDK software that is not compatible with previous SDKs.

[idata]

Are those chips/PCBs, or a completed working cameras?

[MartyG]

All of them can be bought as cased working cameras. The D415 and D435 are not in Intel's official online store yet, but the R200, SR300 and ZR300 are.

There is a new message on the front page of the store today, saying that with the introduction of the new D-cameras, Intel is transitioning away from the R200 and SR300 (but apparently not the ZR300) and so is offering discounts.

https://click.intel.com/ Click Intel to Purchase Computer Spare Parts and Technology Books

RealSense cameras can also be purchased as PCBs without cases through any Intel Approved Distributor company, as Intel do not sell these versions themselves directly.

https://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/partner/where-to-buy/overview.html Intel® Authorized Distributors and Approved Suppliers

I have to go 'off shift' for the day now sadly, but will pick up any new questions you leave here at the start of Monday morning. thanks for your interest in RealSense!

[idata]

Those are very helpful info for new comers like me! What are the corresponding PCB models? I am more interested in the PCBs.

[idata]

Thanks for the info.

It's November, has the 9/17 release date for D435 and D415 cameras been revised?

Kinect manufacturing has halted and these cameras seem to be the most viable alternative at the present time and promise some longevity given that they are new. What's not clear is the path for app development. As best I can tell there is some (yet unannounced) SDK in the works. Microsoft project Prague demonstrates compatibility with the Intel Real Sense SR300 camera that is being phased out. Will there be another SDK from Intel? Is it know whether project Prague will be compatible with D415/435? or ZR300? Will ZR300 continue to be supported and, if so, are there any clues as to how long that support will continue and whether it would use the next SDK?

Thanks for any feedback that can be provided.

[MartyG]

There is not currently a known release date for the D415 and D435, though preparations for their release are continuing. There will apparently first be a pre-order phase on the Intel Click online store before they are released. To be informed about updated release news, please use the Notify Me button on the cameras' entries on the store.

https://click.intel.com/realsense.html Intel® RealSense™ Developer Kits

You may also be interested in a new information page for the cameras, that confirms that there will be Module Kit versions of the cameras for those who wish to integrate it into their products.

https://realsense.intel.com/ Intel® RealSense™ Efficiency Enabling Intelligence - Intel® RealSense™

The cameras use a new SDK called RealSense SDK 2.0, which is an advanced form of the open-source, cross-platformLibrealsense SDK. It was released some weeks ago and is receiving ongoing updates. It is also compatible with the SR300 camera model, enabling developers to begin prototyping projects with the SR300 so that they can swap the camera for the new models with greater power and range when they become available to purchase. Information and download links for each new update of SDK 2.0 can be found on this page:

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/releases/ Releases · IntelRealSense/librealsense · GitHub

The ZR300 is due to be retired. Its Intel 'End of Life' notice projects that it will stop production around the end of 2017.

The Developer Kit camera version of the SR300 is also due to be retired, though the caseless camera board module version of the SR300 will continue to be available. Both the R200 Developer Kit camera and the caseless camera module are being retired.

All of the old cameras will continue to receive support on this forum even when they are not available to purchase. The ZR300 will not use the new SDK 2.0 (which will be the single SDK for all supported computer platforms going forward), as 2.0 only supports the SR300, D415 and D435. F200, R200, SR300 and ZR300 users can continue to use the legacy version of the open-source Librealsense SDK.

I do not have information at this time about the compatibility of the D415 and D435 with Project Prague.

[idata]

Thanks for that info. I have located the information about cross platform sdk that you are moving forward with. It would be better if I explain my situation. There are multiple questions inherent.

I've been burned by Microsoft because I completed a gesture-based image viewer for surgeons in OR who cannot touch a mouse or keyboard due to sterilization procedure that must be repeated if they touch anything. A week after this app was completed they announced Kinect manufacturing halt. I was dumbfounded as post release sales surpassed that of iPhone. Maybe they don't want to be in hardware business except for Xbox One. Their V2 SDK offered a lot of high-level support -- recording for gesture recognition incorporating machine learning and basic mouse and cursor functions (cursor tracking, click and grab) working right out of the box.

Anyway, I am looking for equivalent function and require a camera that will have some longevity and an SDK that works with it, hopefully with high-level function as in v2 SDK that frees apps from examining a frame buffer...something that will be around for a few years. The project will likely be abandoned if there are risks of being burned again. Now, the questions:

1. Site info indicates that SR300, which Project Prague works with, will only be supported through a recent version of Windows 10. That's OK with me if it will remain upward compatible with respect to Windows 10 (likely? no guarantees?) and still be sold for some time into the future. Will it remain compatible using the SDK that you had for it and how much longer will it be manufactured? Will manufacturing halt as soon as D400 series becomes available?

2. Site info indicates that some features that were in prior SDK will not be available in cross platform api that is in GitHub at the moment: "Middlanyaaeware libraries: Cursor mode, 3D scanning, user background segmentation, facial tracking and recognition, and full hand tracking and gesture recognition". Why not these features? It seems to be the bulk of them, especially the ones I need. What is meant by cursor mode? Are you leaving these functions to others? What would any cam be used for without these features? Will Microsoft or those making gestures available in an SDK be taking up the slack...filling the functional hole??

3. Creative senz3D will be sold well into the future and is based on SR300. Does SDK work for it, any assurances there and does it diverge or have the potential for diverging in ways that would lead to incompatibilities?

Thanks for taking a stab at this. I don't particularly was to process frames myself because that is a larger endeavor. I could but the middleware functions referred to on your site are instrumental to many potential uses of any of these cams. Project Prague boards tout intent to be compatible with leading depth sensing cams but my trust is running low and I need to map a path through the gibberish I see out there

Many thanks for a thoughtful reply on this and best regards,

Pat Pattillo

[MartyG]

The pace of technology moves so fast that it would be unwise to predict that the new cameras will be available for three years or more. Two years would be a more reasonable timeframe before they may be replaced by newer, more advanced models, given the sales history of previous RealSense camera models.

I believe that there is less cause to worry about longevity of supply these days though. With RealSense now focused on a single SDK instead of having an ecosystem that is fractured over a few different SDKs, it will be easier to upgrade projects to newer camera models without throwing out existing project code and starting again from scratch.

Intel try to provide advice that will give manufacturers continuity when a product reaches its 'end of life'. For example, the end of life notice for the RealSense ZR300 suggested switching to the D430 (the camera module part inside the D435) once the ZR300 was no longer available.

Windows 10 should be around for a while, though not in the same form. Instead of developing Windows 11, 12, etc, Microsoft's strategy now is to keep updating Windows 10. When Windows 10 was introduced, its advertising made the point that children using Windows 10 now would still be using it ten years from now (even though it will be very different to the original version of it).

Even if Intel were to stop producing the D415 and D435, it does not necessarily mean the end of products compatible with that technology. Some manufacturers produced cased Developer Kit cameras that were fully SR300-compatible, such as the Creative BlasterX Senz3D and the Razer Stargazer. It is possible that third-party manufacturers may again produce an own-brand version of the new cameras, giving an alternative means of supply.