Data checked 2026-08-13. Data may be stale - beyond the review cycle.
Review cycles are documented on the Methodology page. Methodology
IntelRealSense/librealsense
SDK / API Tier A hardware Apache-2.0
RealSense SDK
Engineering Snapshot
Use cases & tasks 9
- Best suited for
-
- Robotics perception pipelines requiring depth/IR/color streams
- SLAM and visual odometry with T265 tracking camera
- 3D reconstruction and point cloud generation
- Embedded Linux and edge AI deployments
- Primary tasks
-
- Real-time depth/color frame acquisition and alignment
- Point cloud generation (PLY, PCD) and depth post-processing filters
- T265 pose stream (6DoF) for localization
- Multi-camera synchronization and hardware timestamp access
- Firmware update and device calibration via CLI/API
Stack & ecosystem
- Resource type
- SDK / API
- Ecosystem
- camera-api · computer-vision · developer-kits · hardware · library · librealsense
License & compliance
- License
-
Apache-2.0(Inferred)
Lifecycle & freshness Show
- Maintenance
- Active
- Latest version
- Not recorded
- Last activity
- 2026-08-13
- Last checked
- 2026-08-13
- Verification
- Official confirmed
What It Solves
Provides cross-platform, open-source SDK for accessing Intel RealSense depth and tracking cameras (D400, L500, SR300, T265 series) from user-space applications without vendor lock-in.
Primary use cases
- Real-time depth/color frame acquisition and alignment
- Point cloud generation (PLY, PCD) and depth post-processing filters
- T265 pose stream (6DoF) for localization
- Multi-camera synchronization and hardware timestamp access
- Firmware update and device calibration via CLI/API
Secondary use cases
- ROS 1/2 integration via ros2_intel_realsense wrapper
- OpenCV/PCL interoperability for computer vision workflows
- Python bindings (pyrealsense2) for rapid prototyping
- Custom depth post-processing filter development
When to Use
Consider when
- Target hardware is Intel RealSense D400/L500/SR300/T265 only
- Need kernel 4.4+ (Linux) or Windows 10+/macOS 10.13+
- Require Apache-2.0 license for commercial redistribution
- ROS 2 Humble/Iron/Jazzy compatibility needed (verify wrapper version)
Verify before adopting
- Exact camera model and firmware version compatibility matrix
- USB 3.0/3.1 bandwidth and power requirements per device count
- ROS wrapper maintenance status for target ROS distro
- Thermal throttling behavior on embedded platforms (Jetson, RPi)
- Depth accuracy specs for specific use-case (close-range vs long-range)
Start Here
Adoption Checklist
- Needs verification Exact camera model and firmware version compatibility matrix
- Needs verification USB 3.0/3.1 bandwidth and power requirements per device count
- Needs verification ROS wrapper maintenance status for target ROS distro
- Needs verification Thermal throttling behavior on embedded platforms (Jetson, RPi)
- Needs verification Depth accuracy specs for specific use-case (close-range vs long-range)
Each check stays "needs verification" until an official source confirms it; unconfirmed items are never marked verified.
Known Limitations & Unknowns
Known limitations
- Hardware-locked to Intel RealSense camera families listed
- No support for discontinued F200/R200/LR200/ZR300
- Advanced features (e.g., depth from stereo on D400) require specific SKU
- macOS support limited to USB 3.0 + Intel GPU (no Apple Silicon native optimization confirmed)
- Single-process exclusive device access (no built-in multi-process sharing)
Not publicly verified
- Exact latest release version and date (not in source)
- Quantified latency/throughput benchmarks per platform
- Formal safety certification status (ISO 26262, DO-178C)
- Long-term support (LTS) release cadence policy
- Apple Silicon (M-series) native performance parity
Alternatives & Related Tools
Related tools
- jetson-inference — compatible with
- open-vins — compatible with
How is it used?
Start from the recorded entry points below, then validate against the technical checklist.
- Official site https://realsenseai.com/
- Repository https://github.com/IntelRealSense/librealsense
- Documentation https://realsenseai.com/
Technical checklist
- OK License identified Recorded: Apache-2.0
- OK Maintenance signal Active
- OK Verification status Official confirmed
- OK Source evidence attached 1 source record(s)
- NEEDS REVIEW Latest version recorded Not recorded
Official Links
Metadata & Governance
| License | Apache-2.0 — Inferred |
|---|---|
| Commercial model | Unknown |
| Maintenance status | Active |
| Verification status | Official confirmed — Confirmed via the official repository API responses in SourceRefs below. |
| Latest version | Not recorded |
| Latest release | Not recorded |
| Last activity | 2026-08-13 |
| Last checked | 2026-08-13 |
| First seen | Not recorded |
Dataset facts
Facts above come from the official dataset card only; unconfirmed fields stay unknown.
Related Resources & Dependencies
- jetson-inference — compatible with (verified)
- open-vins — compatible with (verified)
Recent Activity
New resource: IntelRealSense/librealsense
New repository resource added by the sprint promote pipeline.
Related Knowledge
Collections
- Open Hardware & Sensor Integration — Open-source UAV hardware designs, sensor SDKs, GNSS/RTK tooling and Remote ID implementations for engineering integration.