Crowd Supply, the leading product development platform connecting hardware creators with early adopters and enthusiastic backers, announces the availability of the Onion Tau LiDAR Camera, a USB-based plug-and-play 3D depth camera. The Tau LiDAR Camera brings the functionality of an everyday webcam to 3D depth data, as it begins sending data immediately upon being plugged into a computer with a USB cable.

Users can interact with their data through the Tau Studio Web App or through the Python API; both tools are open source, allowing developers to tailor them to their specific needs and applications. The Tau LiDAR Camera supports a range of applications including augmented reality, environment mapping, as well as computer vision applications such as object detection and robotics.

The Tau LiDAR Camera, developed by Onion with support from Crowd Supply, outputs 160 x 60 pixels of depth data in real time, with a range for depth sensing of 0.1 m to 4.5 m. The camera’s frames can be realized as 2D depth maps, regular 2D images, 3D point clouds, and array or matrix objects within programs. The Tau Camera works independently of ambient light and supports key functions including detection of thin objects, panning around a room, and detection of moving objects. The highly versatile Tau LiDAR Camera can be integrated with other sensors and cameras to support expanded use cases.

To learn more about the Onion Tau LiDAR Camera, visit https://www.crowdsupply.com/onion/tau-lidar-camera