DIY Head Tracker For A Tenner

Presteign

Presteign
I bought one of these neat devices too (full 9150 package from edtracker.org.uk) and it is great!
The Arduino it came with however had some issues after using it for several hours. Long story short: It turned out to be a heat problem which caused serial disconnects.
By disconnects I mean that it actually disconnected as 'a joystick', the windows device manager still showed it being connected on the COM port.
The EDTracker 4.0.5 GUI showed the device but couldn't connect.
By heat I don't mean 45 Celsius room temperature (more like 19-20), it's just that after a few hours of normal working temperature it stopped working. Cool it down and it starts working again.
Of course I tried multiple cables, multiple PCs, USB 2 + 3 + powered USB.

I probably could have written the edtracker guys an email and maybe ask for a replacement (that's what I get from the threads above), but I had quite good soldering skills in the past (16 years ago!!) and well my ambition was on!

After the desoldering torture with a simple vacuum pump, wick and a lot of swearing I managed to split the edtracker pcb, MPU 9150 and the broken arduino. Instead of soldering the new arduino I got for 10EUR from ebay directly, I decided to make it more modular by using the 'pin arrays' and corespondig jacks.
Works like a charm!

What I wanted to say is thank you guys!
The soldering was professional and I assume you tested the device for an hour or so. But again sometimes you just have bad luck and a problem only occurs after a longer period of operation.

If I would have broken it during the desoldering, I would have ordered it again.


Some images

Arduino
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MPU 9150
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EDTracker PCB
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nosscar

nosscar
yes could be some sort of temp issue, as the first one i got worked for the first 20-30 mins of use, then just stopped, and i had the problems posted above, the replacement worked for a few seconds only, not long enough to calibrate it even, then back to same problem as the first one. My old 6050 usually operates here between 28-33 temp with no problems, (except drift, hence buying the new one) 9150 not even reaching that high so far.

edit: wondering if my cable could be not suitable for the 9150, even though it works on the 6050. hmmm...
That would explain why it does not work on both computers, if i am using same cable for both. (as only cable i have)
Also please note, both units are lighting up ok, but the new cable i returned, did not light up or connect them at all.
And my 6050 was built by a friend from one of the online hobby kits, so maybe that uses a different board to the 9150.

rDAJ8qUm.jpg


My 2 units and cable, the 6050 was home made by a friend and sheafed in a rubber jacket, then wrapped in velcro for easy attachment and an effort to stabilise temps a bit better.
 
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Presteign

Presteign
Definitely try various cables, I have seen so many issues with them with various equipment. Also try different USB ports and a powered USB hub.
 

nosscar

nosscar
so far i have used usbdeview to un-install and reinstall all usb drivers, i have tried on various usb ports on both computers, my laptop is usb 2 only anyway, i did get a new cable with the 9150, but that did not work at all (on both units), so i returned that as well, but i did not receive a replacement for that, so only one cable to try until i can get another.

edit: just ordered 2 new data/charging micro usb cables to try, won't arrive until during the next week though, hopefully it might work with them.
 
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Gwaihir

G
Hey Brumster, first of all, thank you for your work on tracker and your help on solving my issue.

Now, problem was caused by me being kinda dumb. My headphones on top of the head, are angled downwards. I've mounted tracker paraller to headphones, not to ground. Now when i was turning head left-right, tracker was also reciving slight input from up-down axis. I think that's why rubberbanding occured. Anyway, after correcting mounting it works like a charm.

Cheers to whole ED tracker team! You are champions :)
 

Flimley

Flimley
Today I soldered the EDTracker boards (thanks to brumster's YouTube video). Installed the software, calibrated everything then launched Elite. ......Set the bindings and preferred options, then into the game itself. ........And it was good ! No issues so far as it feels very reliable and solid (sshhh). I found that from time to time it requires Centering. But that could be me tinkering with settings etc.

Takes a while for your brain to adapt to making precise head movements whilst using the joystick at the same time. I practised in open space to avoid mass mind confusion, as for the first few hours of use things can go very wongly very quickly. But all mastered now.
Would recommend giving this device a go as some of the alternative head tracking systems can be very expensive.

I am Flimley.
 

Amos

A
Hi all,

after my psu failed on my pc I had to re calibrate my edtracker, so I have a 9150 setup, I used an old version as it didn't need fixing, so I saw there is a new version v4.0.3, I found the vid brumster made and noticed he is on v4.0.0, anyway I see a few differences, so I follow the video the best I can, the problem I get to is the magnetomer, after I click restrore factory defaults, then I click magnetomer, the sensiity on my screen is at 0 with points at 1999 and does not move until I click the restart button then I the points field just climbs and climbs when stationary, so I follow the video anyway and do the megnetomer calibartion the best I can, the 2 spheres are round, but are further apart than the one on like the video, then I switch back to head click the auto gyro bias, so it seems to work, so I play ED for a few hours and then it seems the head tracker is having some sort of a fit, looking all over the place, center left and mini movements left and right, even looking in this state you have to fight it.

SO what am I doing wrong or should I go to a previous version? I can post screenshots when it happens again I have just reset it back to dafaults
 

Amos

A
yes I downloaded Edtracker UI 4.0.4.0, and it says EdtrackerMag v4.0.3

I redownloaded it also just incase it was corrupt or somthing but the same issue
 
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Flimley

Flimley
Doh. I posted too soon.....been having problems with EDTracker deleting all the custom joystick bindings....it is likely Elite does this when The EDtracker has been unplugged on a play session and elite only detects one and not two devices, so defaults to 'classic keyboard'
I loose all custom bindings and even after pasting in the save file... Nothing.
Whats the best setup in elites settings for EDTracker and is it best to never unplug the device ever again ?
 

Flimley

Flimley
brumster said:
Ah, ED is like that - it hates devices being unplugged or added. Like you say, it completely resets your profile :(
Click to expand...


Ah many thanks for the reply brumster. Is it the case that you must never unplug the edtracker device ?
It took me all of today to work that one out.:D . And also....I think the EDTracker GUI doesn't like it either?
 

Blairvoyach

Blairvoyach
Flimley said:
Ah many thanks for the reply brumster. Is it the case that you must never unplug the edtracker device ?
It took me all of today to work that one out.:D . And also....I think the EDTracker GUI doesn't like it either?
Click to expand...

I never unplug mine, ever and it's permanently powered. The only exception is if I have to use my Spacepilot CAD controller, if that is plugged in then I dare not start ED as one of my joysticks and the EDTracker no longer work and all my keybinds are lost. ED is the only program this happens with so it must be an "ED thing" so yes, keep it plugged in, in fact glue it in (joking!).
 

Flimley

Flimley
I will reset it all again this weekend with the EDTracker. And never unplug it again. Ever............. Thanks for confirming that for me everyone. !
 

Alcia

Alcia
So, I ordered the boards a while ago and ended up waiting for my sensor boards than for everything else. Anyways, bought enough parts for 3 (friends wanted and I'm the handy one with an iron). Built and tested two of them and I'm very impressed by how well they work. The tracking is spot on, configuration software works well, it's been a very smooth and fun experience. Still going through some DIY case designs as of now, but that should be fairly finalized soon and I'll take some pictures then.

Great job guys, I'm impressed!
 

Gilmour

Banned
Gilmour
Alcia said:
So, I ordered the boards a while ago and ended up waiting for my sensor boards than for everything else. Anyways, bought enough parts for 3 (friends wanted and I'm the handy one with an iron). Built and tested two of them and I'm very impressed by how well they work. The tracking is spot on, configuration software works well, it's been a very smooth and fun experience. Still going through some DIY case designs as of now, but that should be fairly finalized soon and I'll take some pictures then.

Great job guys, I'm impressed!
Click to expand...
handy with an iron, eh? I have a couple dozen dress shirts that could stand a good pressing.
 

Neillm

N
Flimley said:
I will reset it all again this weekend with the EDTracker. And never unplug it again. Ever............. Thanks for confirming that for me everyone. !
Click to expand...

Just for information, in case you didn't know, but it's highly advisable to backup your Custom.binds file should this (or an update wiping your settings) happening again. You can find it here (on Windows 8):

C:\Users\<<Your usename here>>\AppData\Local\Frontier Developments\Elite Dangerous\Options\Bindings

Then you can just restore it and carry on without having to rebind everything.

Hope this helps.
 
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