Driver installation for Intel RealSense camera

From RobotinoWiki

The Intel RealSense camera series consists of RGBD cameras, which deliver not only color pictures, but also dense depth pictures. Hence, it is possible to calculate the depth perception, 3D imaging, interior mapping and feature tracking. These features and the low cost, makes this camera attractive in the field of robotics.

In order to use the Intel RealSense cameras F200, R200, SR200, LR200 or ZR300 in an Linux environment, the library librealsense is needed. Also the kernel needs to be patched. This patch is necessary, to add the right picture format into the Video4Linux driver. The librealsense library needs further libraries and a C++ compiler with complete C++11 support.

In order to keep the installation process as simple as possible, all the required libraries and components are provided in one debian packet. Using an installer, the complete installation is automated.

In case a manual installation is wished, the instructions of the librealsense library are found here readme.


Note: The Intel RealSense camera is only compatible to a Robotino 3 (2014) using an extra USB3 port. It is not compatible to the USB2 port.


Installation on Robotino OS 1.2.x (Ubuntu 12.04) systems

Note: The Intel RealSense camera is not compatible to the ROS version of Ubuntu 12.04. Hence, it is suggested to update the systems to Ubuntu 16.04.

Since the Intel RealSense camera driver needs a kernel update and another C++ compiler, the system will be modified by the installer as follows

  • Installation of the provided kernel 4.4.0 (included in the installer).
  • Inclusion of an unofficial packet repository (PPA), in order to use components of the C++ compiler tool chain.
  • Installation of the provided packet libglfw3 and librealsense (included in the installer).

Note: The installation of the provided kernel could be a small security issue. For official supported kernels, security updates are provided. For the provided kernel there are no security updates prepared. Therefore, it is suggested to update the system to Ubuntu 16.04. To start the installation, the following commands need to be executed in a terminal. Internet connection is required: 

wget http://doc.openrobotino.org/download/jebens/RealSense4Robotino_0.9.3-1_Kernel_4.4.0-36.55.bin
chmod +x *.bin
sudo ./RealSense4Robotino_0.9.3-1_Kernel_4.4.0-36.53.bin

Restart the computer after successful installation.

Installation for Robotino OS 2.0.x (Ubuntu 14.04) and Robotino OS 3.0.x (Ubuntu 16.04) systems

To start the installation, the following commands need to be executed in a terminal. Internet connection is required: 

wget http://doc.openrobotino.org/download/jebens/RealSense4Robotino_0.9.3-1_NoKernel.bin
chmod +x *.bin
sudo ./RealSense4Robotino_0.9.3-1_NoKernel.bin

Restart the computer after successful installation.


Necessary steps after updating the kernels

In case, the kernel was updated, the driver of the Intel RealSense camera needs to be established again. This will be executed by calling the scripts 

/usr/src/librealsense/patch_all_kernels.sh:

sudo /usr/src/librealsense/patch_all_kernels.sh

After the driver is installed for the updated kernel, the computer needs to be restarted before using the Intel RealSense camera.

Testing the camera

The installer includes sample programs to test the camera. Initially the camera needs to be connected. Using the program cpp-pointcloud, the 3d data can be visualized in a 3d viewer. The source code for these samples are found in the /usr/share/librealsense-examples/ folder and in the /usr/bin/ folder.

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