Intel adds new stereo camera with infrared pass filters

Intel Corp. has debuted its new, high-precision stereo camera to enhance its RealSense Depth Camera D435.

The latest addition enhances the performance of the RealSense camera through the use of infrared pass filters, the company says in a press release.

“The Intel RealSense Depth Camera D435f expands our portfolio targeting the growing market of autonomous mobile robots. The D435f utilizes an IR pass filter to enhance depth noise quality and performance range in many robotic environments,” said Joel Hagberg, head of Products and Marketing for Intel RealSense Technology.

Intel has a major operation in the Rio Rancho area and plans to add 700 employees as part of an expansion.

The Intel RealSense Depth Camera D435f is designed to address challenges for autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) in variable lighting environments.

An addition to the Intel® RealSense™ Stereo product portfolio, the D435f depth camera is based on the popular wide field of view global shutter D435 model with an IR pass filter attached to the stereo depth sensors. The IR pass filter effectively increases the relative strength of the textured IR projector pattern.

This enhances the quality of the depth noise and performance range in many of the robotic specific environments. The D435f also offers high-resolution global shutter depth sensors for high-speed motion, critical for AMRs.

The addition of the IR pass filter to the D435f improves the stereo camera’s depth quality in scenes with repetitive vertical patterns, such as poles in an airport, vertical blinds, pipes in ceilings, floor drains or small floor tiles. It also helps to mitigate visible reflections such as overhead lights reflected by shiny floors or tables.

The D435f camera also is built for increased range performance in indoor no-texture environments like a white-wall. The RealSense stereo camera generally works well indoors and outdoors, but the IR pass filter makes the D435f camera ideal for bright sunlight.

The D435f is designed to resolve issues that have been observed in use of stereo cameras with AMRs. In a warehouse setting where bright overhead LED or fluorescent lights have created false object detection because of reflections, fewer potential navigation challenges due to reflections or repetitive patterns are expected from AMRs with the D435f.

The D435f is part of the Intel® RealSense™ D400 Series of cameras, a lineup that takes Intel’s latest depth-sensing hardware and software offerings and puts them into easy-to-integrate, packaged products. The camera is assembled with an IR-pass filter at Intel’s production line with a simple out-of-the-box integration into the customers’ products.

For more details and ordering, visit  intel.com/realsense.