Multiple Realsense D435 USB hub compatability

[SChop3]

Hello everyone,

We're exploring ways a multiple camera setup more compact. One of these ways would be to have cameras running to a USB hub and then the hub connecting to the computer -- only a single cable instead of 4.

My question is whether anyone has tried this? I realise not all hubs are equal in terms of quality and power supply. Is there a particular hub I should use or avoid? Or should I scrap the idea altogether?

Thanks,

Wiredchop

[MartyG · Accepted solution]

A PC can support up to 127 USB addresses on a single computer in theory, so your hub plan could work. In practice it is not quite that simple. Each USB hub claims some of those USB addresses, so it more realistic to aim to connect up to 50 cameras rather than 100 cameras to a single PC. It is also preferable that each camera is connected to a port that has its own USB controller, rather than sharing the USB controller between more than one port

Again, in practice, although you may be able to physically connect 50 cameras, processing would likely be at a standstill because of the extreme drain on the PC's resources. It is more practical to have maybe 4 cameras at a time active, and turn them on and off in batches of four until all the cameras have taken a snapshot and you are back at the first batch to begin the cycle again.

If compactness is a key need and budget is not a prime concern then the new Intel NUC 8 mini-PC may meet your needs. It has a very small form-factor and multiple individual USB 3.0 ports. The cost would be around $1000 for the basic unit (there is a cheaper model with a lower spec), plus some extra components you need to add yourself such as RAM memory.

[AWit]

Wondering if you've had much luck with multiple cameras on a single computer. I'm having sporadic but repeated issues collecting from even 2, as described here: