Entry-Level 3D Sensing: Sensors & Books
A compact, English version of the recommended starter gear and staple books for 3D measurement.
Starter Sensors
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Luxonis OAK-D-Lite
Stereo + DepthAI
Compact and affordable; on-device AI inference. Solid documentation and SDK. -
Stereolabs ZED 2 / ZED 2i
Stereo
Longer effective range; good for outdoor experiments and VIO/SLAM. -
Intel RealSense D455
Stereo
A well-known workhorse with a large ecosystem, specs, and SDKs. -
Orbbec Astra+
Structured Light
Friendly for near-range shape/pose capture in indoor environments. -
Orbbec Femto Mega
iToF
Uses Microsoft indirect ToF; a practical option after Azure Kinect DK. -
Slamtec RPLIDAR A1 / A2
2D LiDAR
Handy entry devices for indoor navigation and wall mapping. -
Livox Mid-40
3D LiDAR
Good balance of point density and cost for getting into 3D LiDAR.
Note on outdoor ToF: Many iToF depth cameras are designed primarily for indoor use and can suffer under strong sunlight. For outdoor projects, prefer 3D LiDAR or stereo.
Core Books
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Richard Szeliski, “Computer Vision: Algorithms and Applications (2nd ed.)”
A comprehensive, modern overview of computer vision. -
Hartley & Zisserman, “Multiple View Geometry (2nd ed.)”
The definitive reference for projective geometry and camera models. -
Thrun, Burgard, & Fox, “Probabilistic Robotics”
Foundations of Bayesian estimation and SLAM for mobile robotics.
Practical Buying Checklist
- Environment: Indoor vs. outdoor (direct sun). Outdoors → prefer LiDAR / stereo.
- Range band: ~0–2 m (Structured Light/ToF), ~0–20 m (Stereo), up to hundreds of meters (LiDAR).
- Target surface: Textureless or glossy surfaces degrade stereo; moving objects favor ToF/stereo.
- Compute: Real-time? Consider on-device processors (e.g., DepthAI) or a capable host.
- SDK & tooling: Check compatibility with OpenCV, Open3D, PCL, RTAB-Map, etc.
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