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If you're going down the two webcam path and want to do simple parallel forward facing stereo, then I highly recommend you build a solid physical rig for it. The slightest pixel misalignment will mess up any 1D block matching algorithm.

Back in undergrad I was using two Logitech ball shaped webcams. I made two wooden pieces with holes for the camera to sit in, then used screws to clamp the wood together. Here's a poor ascii art:

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 /--\       |       /--\
 \--/       |       \--/
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I was using some rather thin MDF wood and over time it would deformed. In hindsight, I should have went with much thicker wood.

Calibrating the two cameras was tedious and done by eye balling. Getting the vertical alignment wasn't so bad because you can see the two images side by side and make a good guess. To make sure the cameras were close to parallel I would focus at a very far object and made sure they're at about the same (x,y) position.