DIY Head Tracker For A Tenner

I would go with something that can be tracked to your house airsure might get the full tracking, royal mail signed for might be only trackable within the UK, the difference between the 2 are full tracking, depending on which company you live in depends on the tracking info, for example I posted something to italy and got full tracking to the buyers doorstep, I also posted to spain and that only had tracking within the UK.

According to the postoffice clerk some countries have full tracking and some don't its all depending on which country its going too.

I hope this helps
 
According to the postoffice clerk some countries have full tracking and some don't its all depending on which country its going too.

Thanks.

According to the RoyalMail website, "Airsure" is now named "Tracked and Signed", and is tracked in France, so I'll go with that.
 
there is one thing that confuses me a little, why would they provide a circuit board if we have to use a breadboard or daughterboad?

hckits0021_800_600.jpg
 
Ok components ordered, never done this before but cant wait to try it out. Have those custom designed circuit boards been made yet? and where can I get one?
 
@Amos:

I am no expert but I think this is how it works:

  • You use a breadboard to prototype the circuit, make sure everything works
  • Then, you either:
    • solder everything on a generic PCB (included in the bundle),
    • or solder everything on a daughter board, specifically designed for this circuit,

The custom daughter board option will give a more compact device, but you have to design and make (etch) it.
 
@Amos:

I am no expert but I think this is how it works:

  • You use a breadboard to prototype the circuit, make sure everything works
  • Then, you either:
    • solder everything on a generic PCB (included in the bundle),
    • or solder everything on a daughter board, specifically designed for this circuit,

The custom daughter board option will give a more compact device, but you have to design and make (etch) it.

Yeah I am no expert either, I can solder ish not done it for many years and my eyes are not up to the task anymore, only other way round it without a daughter board would be link wires I guess, usually a kit come with everything you need to get it working so I wonder everytime I see it lol.
 
So using the generic board how exactly do I make this? Do I just place swictch extra on board connected with those pins and solder or do I have to place them in a particular way on this board?
 
@Amos:

I am no expert but I think this is how it works:

  • You use a breadboard to prototype the circuit, make sure everything works
  • Then, you either:
    • solder everything on a generic PCB (included in the bundle),
    • or solder everything on a daughter board, specifically designed for this circuit,

The custom daughter board option will give a more compact device, but you have to design and make (etch) it.

Yep, following the instructions on Pocketmoon's blog you can breadboard the design first if you're keen to try it out, but obviously the chunk of breadboard can be quite 'large' for head mounting :)

The design on my website can be downloaded and etched onto some copper board if you want to home-brew. I did a batch and we distributed what was left to some guys in the Alpha forum to check it all worked. The final "pro" boards are just commercially fabricated ones, so much much neater and higher quality, and should be with us fairly soon I believe - Dead Fred is arranging that.

Provided you're ok with a soldering iron, these "daughter boards" that will marry the Arduino and the MPU dev boards together will be by far the simplest and neatest approach (short of a fully fabricated, dedicated surface mount design - which I'm working on but would be a pretty serious piece of commercial fabrication if it ever saw the light of day, and not something one could really "DIY" without a lot of experience).

The prototyping board that Hobby Components give you is a middle-ground step really - more permanent than breadboard, not as compact or neat as the daughter board design.
 
forgive my ignorance I can solder but am a complete noob building components. I have bought the hobbycraft kit is there a guide as to exactgly where the components should be placed on this "kit" or where is this daughterboard you speak of!

Sorry to be a pain im just a fellow space trader looking to have the same immersive experience as my kindred elite spirits

Regards Paz
 
(short of a fully fabricated, dedicated surface mount design - which I'm working on but would be a pretty serious piece of commercial fabrication if it ever saw the light of day, and not something one could really "DIY" without a lot of experience).
Kickstarter? ;)
 
I have ordered the head-tracking bundle from HobbyComponents:
http://hobbycomponents.com/index.php/diy-head-tracker-bundle.html

Though I have also ordered the following extra stuff as the kit by itself isn't enough:

The pins supplied in the kit need to be soldered to the Arduino and MPU-6050 boards so I have bought a soldering iron and accessories:

Uk Version Soldering Iron kit with stand and replaceable tip £7.94
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000LZ1VXE/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item
Silverline AS16 Solder 20g
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B000LFVHK6/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item
Clamp with magnifying glass (it was cheap so what the heck) £3.50
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B001BMSBD4/ref=pe_385721_37986871_TE_item

Then I have also bought a solderless breadboard and cables so that I can make a mock up and make sure it all works:

Arduino Breadboard Jumper Cable Wires (65-Cable Pack) £2.32
http://hobbycomponents.com/index.ph...adboard-jumper-cable-wires-65-cable-pack.html
Solderless 400 Point Breadboard £2.59
http://hobbycomponents.com/index.php/prot/prot-breadboard/solderless-400-point-breadboard.html

Lastly a 1.8m microUSB cable. One that's long enough to wind around my headphones and into the back of my PC, nice and tidy.

2M USB Type A standard to Type B MICRO Cable, 1.8 Meter (6ft) £2.75
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B0021X7H6O/ref=oh_details_o01_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So once I'm happy with the wiring and that it all works in the game, I can transfer it to the PCB board supplied in the bundle if I'm feeling up to it.

So after ordering all that it ends up being quite a bit more that £10 but there you go. I'm getting a soldering iron out of it, and really all grown men should probably own a soldering iron. ;)

The plans for the circuit diagram can be found here:
http://reprapdad.wordpress.com/diy-head-tracker-part-2-wire-it-up/

and here in the Board plans download there is a circuit diagram.
http://www.brumster.com/downloads.php?cat_id=1

To be honest I find the descriptions a bit confusing which is why I have bought the solderless breadboard to help me figure it out.

I will of course post in this thread again once the stuff has arrived and I've given it a go!
 
Last edited:
I think if this works well in Ed and other games I think there could be a business opportunity, there is no shame trying to make a bit of money. I for if I cant do it then maybe I will just ask one of the people who can to make one for me I will pay for it. something to think about.
 
The final "pro" boards are just commercially fabricated ones, so much much neater and higher quality, and should be with us fairly soon I believe - Dead Fred is arranging that.

I guess these are already reserved for alpha bakers, but if another batch is considered, I might be interested (depending on the timing, and if shipping to France is an option).

Though I must admit I'm getting slowly hooked to the idea of DIY controllers, and beginning to consider what kind of dedicated device I could build (and most importantly, program). So I might try to remember how that whole "etching" thing works.

Btw, pocketmoon talk on his site about an alternative possibility for solving the drift issue, based on a magnetometer (replacing the MPU-6050 with a MPU-9150). Has anyone tried this?
 
Last edited:
I guess these are already reserved for alpha bakers, but if another batch is considered, I might be interested (depending on the timing, and if shipping to France is an option).
Several people in the Alpha forum have showed interest in these daughter boards, but so far "Dead Fred" has not made any commitments or given any details of if/how he wants to do this.

Give him some time to sort things out and I'm sure the information will be made available.
 
Btw, pocketmoon talk on his site about an alternative possibility for solving the drift issue, based on a magnetometer (replacing the MPU-6050 with a MPU-9150). Has anyone tried this?

Already there ;) I have a prototype board here that I have made up with a 9150.

It works as a basic 6050 board with the existing software, so it's "backwardly compatible" in that sense. I need to work on the software side to incorporate the magnetometer into the DMP output and kill what little bit of drift there is, for good.

It's in the queue, basically, once these initial boards go out it's something I (and no doubt Pocketmoon) will look at in greater detail.

If people want to install a 9150 breakout board now, instead of a 6050, that is no problem (although 9150 boards are not really very attainable in the UK at sensible prices - you're best looking at eBay China for these).
 
Is there a case for socketing the breakout board (using a stackable header pin block) to allow the possibility of upgrading later, I wonder?
 
If people want to install a 9150 breakout board now, instead of a 6050, that is no problem (although 9150 boards are not really very attainable in the UK at sensible prices - you're best looking at eBay China for these).
Found two on DX.com

Which one should I get. They seem to be different in design at least.

http://www.dx.com/p/cjmcu-101-10dof-mpu9150-ms5611-9-axle-pressure-altitude-attitude-sensor-module-purple-306372
http://www.dx.com/p/mpu9150-triaxial-gyro-sensor-module-w-socket-pin-deep-blue-303828
 
Back
Top Bottom