Hi, I am trying to build a stereo vision solution that can run in real time (at least >15 FPS, though >20 is definitely more preferable) on a System-on-a-chip, and the Jetson TX1 seems like my best bet. Regrettably existing stereo vision cameras, for example StereoLabs Zed and e-con Systems Tara, lack in range (near-field and far-field respectively) to such a degree that using them for evaluation is impossible. Furthermore the field-of-view of most systems I have seen is lacking.
Due to this I am investigating the feasibility of building a stereo camera from scratch, and I was mostly wondering if anyone here might have tried this. If so I would very much appreciate some pointers or warnings about various pitfalls.
I have also a few specific questions:
What would be the most reasonable interface for the cameras, GigE, USB3 or Firewire? I would definitely go for two identical cameras, so I would need to get a PCIE-card for an extra port or two in any case (as far as I have gathered). To achieve both wide FoV as well as fair near- and far-field range the cameras would need to have >0.8 Mpixel sensors and I would think that I would need them to produce at least 30 FPS.
What kind of depth map production rate could be expected at such resolutions? The only real depth map rate I have been able to find regarding any Jetson board is this one [url]https://devtalk.nvidia.com/default/topic/994170/jetson-tk1-and-stereo-vision/?offset=5[/url], citing 7 FPS using a TK1 and WVGA resolution (~0.4 Mpixel) without “performance optimizations” (such as CUDA). This is obviously too small a rate as well as resolution in my case, but by using optimizations and the TX1 instead of TK1 I reckon that >15 FPS might be possible?
Lastly, if there is some stereo camera that I might have missed I am all ears. I have listed most of what I have already looked at below.
Thank you for your time!
(Stereo cameras I know about: BumbleBee2, ZED, Tara, DUO3D, Nerian, Ensenso, Leopard modules and probably a few I can not recall at this moment)
(The only camera I have found to fit my specifications is Point Grey’s Bumblebee2 ([url]https://www.ptgrey.com/bumblebee2-firewire-stereo-vision-camera-systems[/url]), however based on the firewire interface, dated and poor-compatibility software and limited testimonies from people that have made it work (this is basically it: [url]opencv - Point Grey Bumblebee2 firewire 1394 with Nvidia Jetson TK1 board - Stack Overflow), it basically seems like a nightmare to get up and running. The pricing at 20.000 €, though manageable, is not helping either.)