I am wondering if it would be possible to get Kinect to work with Udoo board (Quad). I have found that there is now support for ROS + Udoo. Also saw a question asked about Xtion + Udoo which shows some more interest. It would really be great if it could be possible for Kinect+Udoo. Was hoping to implement perhaps a miniature version of TurtleBot. I wish someone could give some insights on this matter. Thanks.


Someone I know has tested the Kinect on the Udoo and it works fairly well on the quad core Udoo, the resources might be tighter on the dual core. You can install the debs for everything you need in ROS, including the freenect packages, from .deb binaries. Just follow the guide here:


Then you can install the debs with this command:

$ sudo apt-get install ros-hydro-freenect-launch

Afterwards you should be able to plugin the Kinect and run this:

$ roslaunch freenect_launch freenect.launch

In another terminal you can do something like this to make sure it is working:

$ rostopic hz /camera/rgb/image_raw

Some tips to using the Kinect and the freenect drivers in ROS on a resource constrained system like the Udoo:

  • Use nodelets (wiki.ros.org/nodelet)

freenect_camera provides a nodelet version and if you write your code as nodelet's you can run them in the same process and save a lot of processing due to IPC.

  • If you need a simulated laserscan and the Kinect is level with the ground, use depthimage_to_laserscan

depthimage_to_laserscan is more efficient than pointcloud_to_laserscan because then you don't need to convert the images from the Kinect into a point cloud first. (Both of these come in nodelet form as well)


the kinect now is working with the UDOO. I tested it in the UDOO quad. Just follow this steps:


RegardsKinect working with the UDOO quad

  • $\begingroup$ Could you give a brief overview of what you did? This helps prevent link rot and ensures people take the right answer away from this question. $\endgroup$ – Mark Omo May 8 '15 at 2:14

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