Hey folks,

After some initial discussion on the ROS mailing list [1], a
libfreenect (OpenKinect) based Kinect driver for ROS has been released
for Fuerte (freenect_stack) [2]. A system install for the stack is now
available. The stack is designed to have the same API as the OpenNI
one, and there is an easy migration guide [3]

The stack has the the following known limitations:
1) It only supports the Kinect [4]
2) It does not support USB 3.0 [5]. In contrast, OpenNI with a bit of
work can be made to work with USB 3.0 [6][7].

I'll continue to maintain the stack. My first priority will be to
include USB 3.0 compatibility, which is something I will work on as
time permits. Almost all high-end laptops these days only have USB 3.0
ports.

If you are facing problems with the stack, please report them on the
corresponding bug report page [8].

[1] http://comments.gmane.org/gmane.science.robotics.ros.user/16856
[2] http://www.ros.org/wiki/freenect_stack
[3] http://www.ros.org/wiki/freenect_camera?distro=fuerte#Migration_guide
[4] http://www.ros.org/wiki/freenect_camera?distro=fuerte#Other_OpenNI_devices
[5] https://github.com/piyushk/freenect_stack/issues/5
[6] http://answers.ros.org/question/9179/kinect-and-usb-30/
[7] http://answers.ros.org/question/33622/openni_launch-not-working-in-fuerte-ubuntu-precise-1204/
[8] https://github.com/piyushk/freenect_stack/issues

Thanks,
Piyush