Intel realsense r200 peripherals

[shreya_g_]

Hello, 

I purchased an Intel r200 realSense camera a few months ago but am facing some issues. I plan to attach the camera to a moving object, since the USB cable provided is really short my camera keeps falling off the object. I ordered a USB Extension cable with the specifications given below:
-USB 3.0 extension cable
-high speed data transmission (3.2 Gbit/s-raw data)
-5m long 

(link to the cable i ordered is given below)
http://www.snapdeal.com/product/terabyte-5-meter-white-30/1588636866

When i connect the camera directly to the laptop it runs the sample programs, however if i attach the USB extension to the Laptop USB port 3.0 and then connect the camera to the extension, the programs do not run. 
I know that the extension cable is working perfectly fine because i tried connecting devices, other than the camera, to the laptop via the cable and they are working perfectly fine. Why is it that the camera doesn't work when attached to the cable? 
Is there any solution to this problem, or any USB extensions provided by Intel specifically for r200?

I need a longer USB cable that i could possibly attach to the camera, kindly suggest something.

Thanks,
Shreya.

[MartyG]

This problem has come up on the forum a few times in the past.  The RealSense camera really does not do well with USB extension cables because the camera data traveling through the cable cannot maintain its strength over distance.  .

A natural solution would be to transmit the camera data over the internet so that a computer with an internet connection can receive the data, eliminating the need for a cable.  This would be especially useful, given your need for the camera to be mobile.  

Projects that involve attaching the camera to a rotating mount in order to 3D-scan objects from every angle typically have problems with the camera getting pulled down too, since the cable twists as the mounting point rotates.

[shreya_g_]

Hello,
Since i am new to this, could you please tell me how to connect my USB camera r200 to the internet while mounted on the moving object?

Thanks,
Shreya

[MartyG]

My suggestion is more of a theoretical one than one I can supply a how-to guide for, sadly, because it's not something I've tried to build myself yet.  Getting the camera to work live in a browser has proven tricky in the past because browsers tend to regard accessing of the C++ based DLL library files of the camera as a security risk and block them, stopping the camera from activating.  

I imagine that packaging data into a file, sending the file over the internet and unpacking it at the destination computer would be much easier though, because the camera's DLL files need not be accessed by the browser in order to make that transmission.  You might even be able to send the data over the net in real-time as a raw data stream.

I suspect that the easiest way to create such an application might be via the Unity engine's support of the WebGL web application standard.

http://blogs.unity3d.com/2015/12/07/unity-5-3-webgl-updates/

Another forum member was asking about Unity and WebGL a week ago.

https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/realsense/topic/606919 ;

In regard to your question about connecting to the internet whilst rotating on the mount point: a compact way to do this might be to run the camera off a "PC on a stick" like Intel's USB 3.0 Compute Stick and connect the stick wirelessly to a wired internet router in the room via a USB 2.0 wi-fi dongle (the Compute Stick has 1 x USB 3.0 for the camera, and 1x USB 2.0 you could plug a wi-fi dongle into).

Here's links to a couple of highly detailed reviews of the Compute Stick.

https://software.intel.com/en-us/forums/realsense/topic/606209#comment-1857307

Edit: the Compute Stick still needs a power cable attached to it via its Micro USB port.  Apparently the cable plugs into an AC adapter that in turn is plugged into the mains.  I guess you could put an extension cord strip directly underneath your rotating mounting point and have the cable running downwards from the mount point to the floor.  The most stable way to do this might be to mount the Stick at the center of the mount point and drill a hole through the base of the mount so the power cable can drop straight down to the extension strip instead of hanging off the edge of the mount.  That way, the cable would just wiggle a little as the mount rotated instead of being pulled round and round in a large circle!

If supplying enough power for both the camera and a wi-fi dongle is a concern, the more powerful Core M version of the Compute Stick will be using a USB-C type power cable instead of Micro USB so it can deliver more power to the stick.

Edit 2: I re-read your original post and you mention a "moving object", rather than a static mount point that is rotating on the spot.  So my advice about the mount point may not be useful to your particular project.  Sorry about that!  Can you say what the object is that the camera will be attached to and how it will be moving around please?  :)

[MartyG]

Further to my mention of Unity WebGL, I saw a beginners guide to it on the Gamasutra game development website today and thought I';d post the link here.

http://gamasutra.com/blogs/KevinMurphy/20160125/264217/Unity_WebGL_for_Dummies_like_me.php