Intel’s Euclid Packs 3D Sensing and Computing in a Tiny Package

Intel’s Euclid will make adding sensors to your robot child’s play.

At the Intel Developer Forum held this week, Intel unveiled a number of RealSense developer kits that make adding sensor functionality to DIY projects easy. The most exciting product to make its debut is Intel’s Euclid – a RealSense plug-and-play complete PC that adds sensor, communication, and computing capabilities to your robotic platforms in seconds. Did we mention it’s the size of a candy bar?

Euclid has everything needed to add sensors to your robots. It has an encased ZR300 camera, Intel atom processor, onboard communications, a variety of sensors, and is powered by DC batteries. The device is a self-contained PC running on Ubuntu Linux and Robot Operating System. The accompanying web-based portal comes with several functional applications. You can, of course, also develop and upload your own to customize your project for your needs.

In a live demonstration, an Intel roboticist plugged Euclid into a robot he built, and in a matter of seconds, the bot began following him around the stage. Although he programmed his robot to have this capability, it was the Euclid that made it possible. Euclid allows you to easily give your robot “sight,” and what you do from there is up to you.

Intel also unveiled several other new developer kits at its conference, including three new versions of the RealSense platform. You can choose from a robotics development kit that houses a compact AAEON Up board and camera, a new high-precision camera kit with motion tracking, and a new camera kit with enhanced 3D capture.

There’s no specific date for when these will become available, but the prototypes are fairly comprehensive. We wouldn’t be surprised if the kits become available within the year, so stay tuned.