Suggestions for connecting to a microcontroller / single board computer?

[VNemk]

Hello!

I would like to purchase the Intel RealSense D435 model and install it in a factory setting for monitoring. I want to hook it up to a microcontroller / SBC so I can ssh into it remotely, make pictures and download data.

I have found that current Raspberry PI models don't have USB 3.0 which degrades performance:

https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense/blob/master/doc/RaspberryPi3.md librealsense/RaspberryPi3.md at master · IntelRealSense/librealsense · GitHub

Also Arduino seems to have problems too:

https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/realsense/topic/623621 Intel RealSense Camera and Arduino

Can you suggest me a 'mini pc' on which I can install Ubuntu, has Wifi for downloading the images, USB 3.0 connector and is supported by the RealSense D435 camera?

If you have a similar setup I would like to hear how difficult it was to get it to work!

My budget is at around $180 tops.

Thank you in advance,

Viktória

[MartyG · Accepted solution]

The 400 Series cameras are much more forgiving about hardware specification than previous RealSense cameras. They can work with any Intel or ARM processor, and the main requirement is just to have a USB 3.0 connection. This flexibility widens your options when choosing a single-board computer.

I do not have data yet on boards that are confirmed to work with D435, but the aforementioned flexibility means that any board that has USB 3.0 and an Intel or ARM processor should be a safe choice. So I will offer a couple of suggestions based on your budget.

PICO-BT01

http://www.aaeon.com/en/p/pico-itx-boards-pico-bt01 PICO-BT01 - Embedded Single Board Computers

http://www.aaeon-shop.com/community-supported-products/41-pico-itx-with-intel-atom-n2807.html Pico-ITX with Intel® Atom N2807 - Aaeon Shop

UP CORE / UP SQUARED CELERON

Up boards have a history of working excellently with the older RealSense camera models R200 and ZR300. The Up Core was officially recommended by Up for use with the D435's predecessor the ZR300, and they sold the ZR300 in their own online store at one point.

https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards https://up-shop.org/4-up-boards

[VNemk]

Thank you for the very quick response!

In the end we have chosen the following product:

https://up-shop.org/up-boards/96-up-squared-pentium-quad-core-4gb-memory32gb-emmc.html https://up-shop.org/up-boards/96-up-squared-pentium-quad-core-4gb-memory32gb-emmc.html

It was above our budget, but it has 4 USB 3.0 ports and we are planning on plugging 4 cameras into each one.

[MartyG]

I'm very glad that you found a product that suits your needs!

The specification of your chosen board says that of the 4 USB 3.0 ports, three are full USB 3.0 ports and one is a USB 3.0 OTG (On The Go) type port which has a smaller USB connector because OTG is intended to enable the connection of full USB 3.0 devices to mobile devices (hence 'on the go'). You will therefore likely need to plug a USB 3.0 OTG adapter dongle into that port and plug the fourth camera into the other end of the adapter. The one I used with the original Up Board to connect an R200 camera to it looked like this:

[VNemk]

I see, I was scratching my head about those USBs. I only saw 2 blue ports in the picture. Thank you for clearing that up!