DIY Head Tracker For A Tenner

n0ahg

N
Antmax said:
You can use 3DOF but it's a bit convoluted. You need to get the data from EDTracker into opentracks joystick input plugin. But ED's axis range is too big or something so it doesn't work directly.

So what you have to do is use joystick curves utility to read EDtrackers data. Enable preserve axis range. Then joystick curves outputs to Vjoy which the opentrack joystick plugin does recognize. Then you can use EDtracker with 3DOF in any TrackIR compatible game.

In time there will probably be native support for EDtracker, or someone might make the Edtracker range more directly compatible. One of the opentrack devs said he might eventually do it.

I have the config/ini files for joystick curves and opentrack that will let you use EDtracker with 3DOF here.

A more direct solution would be much better and more efficient than this convoluted solution of course.
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You're better off using Hatire if you are using facetracknoir/opentrack so you get the raw values for all three axis.
 

NeilF

NeilF
I'll swear my view creaps right slowly? - I played one of the Combat Scenario repeatedly, and noticed my view kept on appear to be more and more right?

is this something to do with the short combat demos? Or something else?
 

Lasse B.

Lasse B.
More likely it's the natural drift of the gyroscope. I had it as bad as you seem to have it, but after the last run through the calibration process drift seems low enough to be compensated for by the auto-centering.
 

NeilF

NeilF
Lasse B. said:
More likely it's the natural drift of the gyroscope. I had it as bad as you seem to have it, but after the last run through the calibration process drift seems low enough to be compensated for by the auto-centering.
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So do I need to (re-)calibrate it? I've not done that before (pre-built unit).
 

the-monk

the-monk
NeilF said:
So do I need to (re-)calibrate it? I've not done that before (pre-built unit).
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I purchased mine as a prebuild unit and I would highly recommend learning the calibration process as you can tweak sensitivity settings in the code which can allow you to look around with out having to move your head so much.
 

NeilF

NeilF
the-monk said:
I purchased mine as a prebuild unit and I would highly recommend learning the calibration process as you can tweak sensitivity settings in the code which can allow you to look around with out having to move your head so much.
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So let's assume mine is "drifting", is the only way to fix to calibrate/flash the unit?

Or it an update on the way to simplify this? ie: Like the scaling?
 

Neillm

N
NeilF said:
So let's assume mine is "drifting", is the only way to fix to calibrate/flash the unit?

Or it an update on the way to simplify this? ie: Like the scaling?
Click to expand...

You shouldn't need to reflash it to do the drift compensation modification. Pages 9 and 10 of this document explain the process nicely (Calibrate Device Drift section).

I had to do to 10 minute wait/save bit a couple of times to get minimal drift in the unit.

Hope this helps.
 

Antmax

Antmax
n0ahg said:
You're better off using Hatire if you are using facetracknoir/opentrack so you get the raw values for all three axis.
Click to expand...

I am already getting all three axis and no drift. The EDTrackers 3rd head roll axis is being read by opentrack with the setup I am using. Otherwise why use opentrack at all.

The roll axis does make tracking your target very slightly more intuitive plus you can activate the ship computers with less extreme head movement using a kind of twist/nod without losing track of your forward heading too much.
 

Neillm

N
Antmax said:
I am already getting all three axis and no drift. The EDTrackers 3rd head roll axis is being read by opentrack with the setup I am using. Otherwise why use opentrack at all.

The roll axis does make tracking your target very slightly more intuitive plus you can activate the ship computers with less extreme head movement using a kind of twist/nod without losing track of your forward heading too much.
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I'm not at my PC at the moment, so I apologise if this is an obvious question but how do you bind this third axis in game? Normally, the head look is bound to a hat or, in the case of the 360 controller, one of the sticks which don't have a roll axis. Is it just an available option in the controls confit that I've not looked at/seen?

Thanks.
 

Stodgy

Stodgy
I'm having a few issues with my self assembled EDtracker.

Can flash the calibration sketch and use the EDTrackerUtil to do the calibration step. This always works ok.

Flash the EDtracker2 sketch, never any issues reported but the EDTrackerUtil gets stuck in a loop checking COM3.

Tried several times but it is always the same. Calibration sketch works 100%, EDtracker2 sketch never works.

Any help would be appreciated.
 

Antmax

Antmax
Neillm said:
I'm not at my PC at the moment, so I apologise if this is an obvious question but how do you bind this third axis in game? Normally, the head look is bound to a hat or, in the case of the 360 controller, one of the sticks which don't have a roll axis. Is it just an available option in the controls confit that I've not looked at/seen?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You can't unless you use third party software. That's why I have been playing with edtracker in opentrack and it's joystick input plugin.
 

Vergoth

V
Got mine working, very smooth, a little sensitive but nothing I can't work with. Overall I am blown away!

The only thing I am having trouble with is the two look options in game whether to use accumulate or direct.

I prefer Accumulate however when I move my head back to the center position my view doesn't follow what my head is doing. In order to move my view back I either have to look to the left and "drag" my view to center again or reset head look to snap it back.

is this intended?
 

NeilF

NeilF
Neillm said:
I'm not at my PC at the moment, so I apologise if this is an obvious question but how do you bind this third axis in game? Normally, the head look is bound to a hat or, in the case of the 360 controller, one of the sticks which don't have a roll axis. Is it just an available option in the controls confit that I've not looked at/seen?

Thanks.
Click to expand...

You don't. The EDTracker acts as a 3 ways joystick with X, Y and Z. When in the game you simply click to map something to each of the two directions of headlook, and move the EDtracker to fire off X, Y or Z. Done!
 

NeilF

NeilF
Vergoth said:
Got mine working, very smooth, a little sensitive but nothing I can't work with. Overall I am blown away!

The only thing I am having trouble with is the two look options in game whether to use accumulate or direct.

I prefer Accumulate however when I move my head back to the center position my view doesn't follow what my head is doing. In order to move my view back I either have to look to the left and "drag" my view to center again or reset head look to snap it back.

is this intended?
Click to expand...

One mode simply acts as a binary switch moving one way or the other. The other mode is a direct instant movement (basically like TrackIR), which is the intended use. The instructions are quite clear on how to configure the controller in the game - http://edtracker.org.uk/index.php/downloads/category/3-documentation
 

BeanHaricot

B
Stodgy said:
I'm having a few issues with my self assembled EDtracker.

Can flash the calibration sketch and use the EDTrackerUtil to do the calibration step. This always works ok.

Flash the EDtracker2 sketch, never any issues reported but the EDTrackerUtil gets stuck in a loop checking COM3.

Tried several times but it is always the same. Calibration sketch works 100%, EDtracker2 sketch never works.

Any help would be appreciated.
Click to expand...


I had the same exact problem. After debugging it a bit, I found that I had wired the momentary switch incorrectly so that it was always on. The tracker was constantly resetting itself. Once I fixed that, the EDTrackerII sketch started working fine.
 

brumster

brumster
Correct. If we built it for you, we always do the gyro calibration before sending it out. We do some drift compensation too, but only about 10 minutes worth (well, I do, at least - can't speak for Rob and Dorian). I can't promise it'll be perfect for how each customer uses it, because obviously ambient temperatures can differ, or they might put it in an enclosure, or use a different orientation, or gravity might be higher where they live :rolleyes:

But re-running the UI and just checking/re-calculating drift isn't a big issue really.
 

Antmax

Antmax
When running a tool called Joy Resolution Tester I get the following data.

When reset Edtracker values centered are as follows.

X Axis Raw 32768 Res 65536 values 1270
Y Axis Raw 32768 Res 65536 values 1797
Z Axis Raw 32763 Res 65536 values 2009

so full raw range of data is 0 - 65536 and spans 180 degrees of rotation in each axis. I'm not sure what values is except that it only goes up in value never back and forth. So probably not important.

So kind of similar to Brumsters findings. Only 0 through 65536 not -32k to +32k

DXTweak 2 shows raw values of -32768 to 32767 with 0 center
Values of 1 - 65535
 
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