I want to get some first hand experience working with depth cameras in a robotics context, and a little research implied the Xbox 360 Kinect sensor bar is the cheapest hardware that also has decent open source software support. So it's time to dust off the Kinect sensor bar from my Halo 4 Edition Xbox 360.

I was a huge Halo fan and I purchased this Halo 4 console bundle as an upgrade from my first generation Xbox 360. My Halo enthusiasm has since faded and so has the Xbox 360. After I upgraded to Xbox One, I lent out this console (plus all accessories and games) to a friend with young children. Eventually the children lost interest in an antiquated console that didn't play any of the cool new games and it resumed gathering dust. When I asked if I could reclaim my Kinect sensor bar, I was told to reclaim the whole works. The first accessory to undergo disassembly at SGVTech was the Xbox 360 Racing Steering Wheel. Now it is time for the second accessory: my Kinect sensor bar.

The sensor bar connected to my console via a proprietary connector. Most Xbox 360 accessories are wireless battery-powered devices, but the Kinect sends far more data than normal wireless controllers and requires much more power than rechargeable AA batteries can handle. Thus the proprietary connector is a combination of a 12 volt power supply alongside standard USB 2.0 data at 5 volts. To convert this sensor bar for computer use instead of a Xbox 360, the proprietary connector needs to be replaced by two separate connectors: A standard USB 2.0 plug plus a 12V power supply plug.

Having a functioning Xbox 360 made the task easier. First, by going into the Kinect diagnostics menu, I could verify the Kinect is in working condition before I start cutting things up. Second, after I severed the proprietary plug and splayed out wires in the cable, a multimeter was able to easily determine the wires for 12 volt (tan), 5 volt (red), and ground (black) by detecting the voltages placed on those wires by a running Xbox 360.

That left only the two USB data wires, colored green and white. Thankfully, this appears to be fairly standardized across USB cables. When I cut apart a USB 2.0 cable to use as my new plug, I found the same red, black, green, and white colors on wires. To test the easy thing first, I matched wire colors, kept them from shorting each other with small pieces of tape, and put 12V power on the tan wire using a bench power supply.

Since I was not confident on this wiring, I used my cheap laptop to test my suspect USB wiring instead of using my good laptop. Fortunately, the color matching appeared to work and the sensor bar enumerated properly. Ubuntu's dmesg utility lists a Kinect sensor bar as a USB hub with three attached devices:

  1. Xbox NUI Motor: a small motor that can tilt the sensor bar up or down.
  2. Xbox Kinect Audio: on board microphone array.
  3. Xbox NUI Camera: this is our depth-sensing star!

xbox nui camera detected

[ 84.825198] usb 2-3.3: new high-speed USB device number 10 using xhci_hcd
[ 84.931728] usb 2-3.3: New USB device found, idVendor=045e, idProduct=02ae
[ 84.931733] usb 2-3.3: New USB device strings: Mfr=2, Product=1, SerialNumber=3
[ 84.931735] usb 2-3.3: Product: Xbox NUI Camera
[ 84.931737] usb 2-3.3: Manufacturer: Microsoft

xbox 360 kinect with modified plugs 12v usb