Options that work with generic cameras (not pre-built stereo vision boards with fixed baseline, low-performance global shutters, low resolution, or low-quality optics). There are some free options, but you get what you pay for!
| | NODAR SDK | NVIDIA Isaac ROS/ ESS DNN | OpenCV | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | License | Commercial | Commercial | Open Source | | Primary Use | AV, ADAS, Trucks, Rail, Tractors, Airplanes | Robotics & Warehouse Automation | DIY, Prototyping, Research | | Max Detection Range | 1,000m+ | Short to Mid (0.5m – 50m) | Baseline Dependent (Limited) | | Frame-by-Frame Auto-Calibration | Yes. Adjusts every frame to fix vibration/shocks. | No. Relies on rigid mounts; DNN is robust to some error but doesn't "re-calibrate." | No. Requires manual chessboard or offline calibration. | | Hardware Agnostic? | Yes (Off-the-shelf cameras) | Partially (Optimized for Jetson/NVIDIA) | Yes (Works with anything) | | Supported Computers | CPU: ARM or x86 GPU: Nvidia | Nvidia Jetson | Mainly x86 support | | Core Algorithm | Wide-baseline Geometry | Deep Learning (ESS DNN) | SGBM | | Accuracy | Excellent | Good | Fair | | Computational Speed | Fastest | Middle | Slowest | | ROS Support | Yes | Yes | No, not natively | | ZMQ Support | Yes | No | No | | Vibration Tolerance | Extreme. Supports unlinked, non-rigid mounts. | Low. Expects a rigid bridge or factory-sealed unit. | None. Any shift breaks the epipolar geometry. |
References:
NODAR is orders of magnitude more accurate than any other commercial stereo vision camera.
Link to Google Colab Notebook: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/1s2gtRNDHsRqbgidi7ItJWJO7Ygi72Zhg?usp=sharing
NODAR Hammerhead can process 160M points/s, which is 4-100x faster than other options.
| NODAR SDK | NVIDIA Isaac ROS/ESS DNN | OpenCV | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Performance @ 0.55MP (576x960) | 400 FPS (Orin AGX) | 109 FPS (Orin AGX) | 4.2 FPS(Intel Xeon 2.2 GHz) |
| Performance @ 1MP | 160 FPS (Orin AGX) | Not possible | 2.0 FPS(Intel Xeon 2.2 GHz) |
| Performance @ 5.4MP | 30 FPS (Orin AGX) | Not possible | 0.3 FPS(Intel Xeon 2.2 GHz) |
| Performance @ 8MP | 20 FPS (Orin AGX) | Not possible | 0.2 FPS(Intel Xeon 2.2 GHz) |
Benchmarks for OpenCV computed with this Google Colab notebook: https://colab.research.google.com/drive/15S1zn_HxmqYgDXgsUTzLcXKLETeb_I7_?usp=sharing