# RealSense SDK

RealSense SDK

Repository: https://github.com/realsenseai/librealsense
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/realsense-sdk
Homepage: https://realsenseai.com/
Language: C++
License: Apache-2.0
License Family: permissive
Topics: librealsense, developer-kits, sdk, library, camera-api, computer-vision, hardware
Last push: 2026-08-26T18:33:28+00:00
Link (homepage): https://realsenseai.com/
Link (site_page): https://www.realsenseai.com/developers/faqs
Link (site_page): https://dev.realsenseai.com
Link (site_page): https://dev.realsenseai.com/docs/supported-platforms-and-languages
Link (site_page): https://dev.realsenseai.com/docs/whitepapers

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 93/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 99, release rhythm 81, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 3942, "days_push": 7, "days_rel": 45, "gap_med": 41.5, "n_releases_24m": 13}
- flags: none
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 8974, forks 5036 (observed 2026-08-28T04:10:26.556936+00:00)

## What it is
RealSense SDK 2.0 (librealsense) is a cross-platform C++ library for Intel/RealSense depth cameras, providing depth and color streaming plus intrinsic/extrinsic calibration data. It includes wrappers for Python, ROS, and many other languages, and tooling for firmware updates and camera configuration.

## Use cases
- stream depth and color video from a RealSense D400 camera
- get calibrated depth data for a robotics project in ROS
- build a 3D point cloud from a stereo depth camera
- access camera intrinsics and extrinsics for computer vision
- update RealSense camera firmware from the command line
- use a depth camera with Python or OpenCV
- develop depth perception for drones or AR/VR applications

## When to choose
- you own a RealSense depth camera (D400/D500/L500 series) and need streaming and calibration
- you need a mature, well-documented SDK with ROS, Python, and multi-platform support
- you're building robotics, SLAM, or 3D scanning applications with depth sensing

## When to avoid
- you use a different brand of depth camera (e.g., Kinect, Orbbec, ZED)
- you need a pure software depth estimation solution without RealSense hardware
- you require the newer closed-source Perception Studio features, which are not in this open-source SDK

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: computer-vision, image-processing, sdk, robotics
- domain: computer-vision, robotics, hardware, developer-tools
- platform: windows, cpp, python, cross-platform, embedded
- tags: depth-camera, stereo-vision, realsense, ros, depth-sensing, camera-streaming, calibration, point-cloud, linux, macos, android

## Member repositories
- realsenseai/librealsense (main) score 93
- realsenseai/realsense-ros (plugin) score 92

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:26.556936+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-29T17:24:25.537274+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/realsenseai/librealsense (fetched 2026-08-28T04:10:26.556936+00:00, sha 366f1422f517)
  - homepage: https://realsenseai.com/ (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.544095+00:00, sha e374d5a6d6ad)
  - site_page: https://dev.realsenseai.com/docs/supported-platforms-and-languages (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.557689+00:00, sha 84e4a4f47482)
  - site_page: https://dev.realsenseai.com/docs/whitepapers (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.559572+00:00, sha 340490dff409)
  - site_page: https://www.realsenseai.com/about (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.561309+00:00, sha 330056742781)
  - site_page: https://dev.realsenseai.com/docs/docs-get-started (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.563343+00:00, sha ac509f851892)
  - site_page: https://www.realsenseai.com/about/careers (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.565450+00:00, sha 5b2b95cfce53)
  - site_page: https://www.realsenseai.com/developers/faqs (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.553286+00:00, sha 5aa51daf8efe)
  - site_page: https://dev.realsenseai.com (fetched 2026-08-29T08:24:57.555662+00:00, sha 3594633b17c6)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.