Realsense VF0800 USB 3.0 Extension

[Rahul_S_1]

Hi,

I am trying to use the Realsense VF0800 with a USB 3.0 extension. I tried using a "Cable Matters SuperSpeed USB 3.0 Type A Male to Female Active Extension Cable 5 Meters/16.4 Feet" with and without a 5V power supply. Neither of them worked. (Each time I connected it to a USB 3.0 port where the camera works reliably without the extension) 

Either the camera is not detected or experiences sporadic drops in connection. 

Is there any recommended specification for an USB extension for the Realsense camera? I would appreciate any information about this.

Thanks,

Rahul Shome,

Rutgers University.

[Xusheng_L_Intel]

Since RealSense 3D camera use almost all the bandwidth of the USB 3.0, please do not connect the camera via extension or usb hub. Thanks!

[steve_g_1]

so what can we do

[steve_g_1]

did you find any help with this problem

[MartyG]

For some RealSense users, using a mains-powered hub is the only way that they can get the camera to function.  David is right about hubs in the sense that "passive" hubs that draw their power from the computer's USB port won't work.  But *powered* hubs, that draw their juice from a mains power-point instead of the PC, can make the camera work when it otherwise wouldn't if plugged directly into a PC's USB 3 port.

The question of whether a USB extension cable would work is a bit more murky.  It's certainly true that a signal gets weaker the longer the cable is.  I remember in the early days of this RealSense forum, someone was looking to use a 15 meter USB extension cable (I emphasize meters, not feet) with their camera.  

http://amzn.to/1KT8WOm

A 15 m cable cost about $100 USD, so I'm not sure if that person went ahead with the purchase as I never heard any more about it after their initial enquiry.  But Rahul's experience suggests that if they did buy that 15 m cable, they probably weren't able to use the camera successfully with it.

In these circumstances, where one wants to get RealSense data to a computer from a far-away point, I usually suggest streaming the data across the internet from the computer that the camera is attached to.  For example, if one wants to use several cameras at the same time, integrating each feed into a collective room in a multiplayer application in an engine such as Unity so that all of the feeds come together in a single place.

[Jonathan_W_1]

I am having the same concern- the cable that came with the camera is crazily short, and I only have USB ports on the left side of the computer. I have to flip the camera over from the left side of the computer, making the already short cable too short to even reach the top of the computer screen. As is, the camera is largely unusable. Was anyone able to find a solution for a longer cable? Did a powered USB hub work for anyone?

[Paulo_Pinheiro]

I'm about to get a 1,5m 3.0 usb extension to test it out. So far I've tested a 5m cable and didn't work well. Sometimes I was able to  run the application using librealsense, but soon the stream pops up it fails....overall I got a timeout due to lack of frames. So definitely it's not a good idea. I think Intel Euclid will be a dream come true for all of us.

[Brian_C_2]

My experience suggests that you need a good quality USB 3.0 cable, and that it should be as short as possible. 2m for me is unreliable and unstable. 1m is much better.