Home made Track IR

[Coolhand]

I've been thinking about buying a track IR for some time now, if you're not familiar with them (though i'm sure most of you are) they're devices that use a camera and Infrared or visible light to track points (LED's or reflectors) mounted to your head and via software translate this data into movement on screen. So essentially if you move your head to the right slightly, you view on the screen in a 3d cockpit will move with it. This obviously greatly improves immersion in a simulator like rFactor, or even orbiter which believe supports this feature.

Now, Track IR is meant to be very good, but it's also quite expensive. I've never been able to justify the expense on whats essentially a toy and i'd rather spend money on other hardware like graphics cards or steering wheels, etc.

Chatting with TSPenguin the other day put me on a track to build my own setup for pennies. In fact it seems ludiucrously simple.

There's freeware software that can handle the motion capture and i have a webcam that can see infrared LEDs so i'm halfway there already. All i need to do is to fabricate a mounting system for the LED's on a cap and wire it all up. I'm currently looking at what types of IR LED's to purchase.

So, y'all still with me? Has anyone else here built one of these before? what results did you get, what pitfalls did you encounter and what hardware & software did you use? And most importantly, did you get it to work with Orbiter?

All comments, suggestions and queries welcome, i'll try and keep this thread updated with the project as it progresses. :beach:

 

[Kaito]

You mean something like this:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jd3-eiid-Uw"]YouTube - Head Tracking for Desktop VR Displays using the WiiRemote[/ame]

 

[Coolhand]

kinda. dont need nintendo parts though.. just a cap a webcam and some IR LEDS.

 

[Kaito]

Ok, i was just making sure I knew pretty much what u were talking about.

All I can say is: good luck, god speed. I cant wait to see this

 

[ar81]

What is Track IR? Is this infrared vision in Orbiter?

 

[n122vu]

TrackIR Explained

ar81 - this vid will explain:

 

[C3PO]

I don't consider TrackIR expensive at all. When you consider how much it changes the level of immersion, I think it's actually quite cheap.

I bought the old 3D TrackIR because I ordered the 3D-glasses from the same company, and the transportation was a bit much for just one item. The glasses were OK as long as I had a CRT monitor, but my LCD monitor is a bit slow for them.

The TrackIR was so good that I bought the 6D model as soon as it was available.

PS: I've got two TrackIR's and I haven't bought any pedals yet! They're THAT good!!!

 

[Tex]

C3PO makes a good point, when you consider how much it improves the level of immersion it completely justifies the purchase. You may have some trouble with the freeware software Coolhand, I can't say for sure because I've only tried track ir's that were made for that purpose and came with their own software, but I know the software has many popular games listed in it for support so you can choose the game you are playing when using the Track IR for maximum results.

I think I paid around $150 for my track ir ultra from Overstock.com which is the 8 point system having a full range of motions:

*Turn head left and right
*Tilt head up and down
*Zooming in/out by moving head towards/away from monitor
*Raise/lower head elevation

It looks like the Track IR Ultra is more from JustFlight, but if you look around I'm sure you can find a decent deal somewhere.

Good luck which ever way you decide to go mate! :speakcool:

 

[Coolhand]

Understand that unlike some of you guys, i don't actually spend much time playing sims. I spend most of my time on the computer doing creative things, not playing games... I have the odd weeks binge on something like rfactor a few times a year but not really enough to justify buying this, i've got better things to spend my money on.If i sunk 200 dollars into a track IR, i'd use it for a week and probably forget about it... i haven't even dug my steering wheel out for 6 months and my joystick for orbiter is an xbox 360 gamepad from my xbox that RROD'd 6 months ago and i haven't bothered to fix it. If you take your simming / gaming really seriously, and spend every spare minute on these things, then fair enough.. but it's still an overpriced product with apparently no competition. but we're not really here to discuss naturalpoint's price point.

oh, and Tex, i'm not expecting this to be as good as the track irs highly polished product. lol. but this is a thread about the discussion of building your own system, experimentation, tinkering and so on, not giving up and buying a premade thing.

 

[TSPenguin]

The costs of a TrackIR system in correlation to the effect you get is more than justified!
The costs of a TrackIR system in correlation to the actual hardware costs are not justified IMO.

Soon the free software solutions will get better (maybe they already are, after all, the math is fairly simple) and you can use as many points as you like.
You could go and buy a better webcam with higher resolution to get more precision. Even if you use reflectors, neglecting the need for batteries or cables on your head, and get an IR lamp, or build one, it is a lot cheaper than the commercial systems.

That beeing said, most people have the components lying around (webcam, some old remotes) and can build one with no cost. Even if you go ahead and buy the parts you need to build a high quality version, i doubt you'll exceed 50 Euros or even get close to it.

The only reason I would buy a TrackIR system is the software, which is really great!

 

[Tex]

Just thought I'd share my experience from using mine with you. I am like you though, I spend most of my time on the computer doing creative things like making videos, but most of my free time today goes to Orbiter-Forum. I haven't fired Orbiter up in 2 months probably and I rarely drive rFactor these days.

Anyway, I'm sure a home made track ir will be good for your needs. Good luck mate!

 

[Coolhand]

Indeed, it's the spirit of adventure, tinkering...! you've got some good suggestions there TS.. i'm just interested in getting the system working at this point.

I'm also interested as i'm a 3d artist who sometimes does animation, there's the possibility of extending something like this into a full 3d motion capture system for anything, facial animation, perhaps full body animation... gotta start somewhere.

 

[Donamy]

My IR tracker fell apart in a week.

 

[Coolhand]

lol, homemade?

 

[zerofay32]

I've read a lot about the homemade versions. And comparing the cost of buying a TrackIR and trying to do it yourself, If the homemade version even works half as well justifies trying it. If it breaks or doesn' t work, then you're not out of $150. So I say go for the homemade one first. I havn't started mine yet, no time with work and all.

Zerofay32

 

[Donamy]

lol, homemade?

Sorry that should read "My TrackIR fell apart in a week."

 

[Coolhand]

ROFLMAO!

 

[TSPenguin]

Sorry that should read "My TrackIR fell apart in a week."

Is the TrackIR repairable by yourself? Or is it build in such a way that if it is broken, it really is broken and stays that way?

 

[Coolhand]

I've read a lot about the homemade versions. And comparing the cost of buying a TrackIR and trying to do it yourself, If the homemade version even works half as well justifies trying it. If it breaks or doesn' t work, then you're not out of $150. So I say go for the homemade one first. I havn't started mine yet, no time with work and all.

Zerofay32

Indeed, i'd even be tempted to build one even if it just let you look from side to side or something, it would be cool for practically nothing. But from the videos ive seen of one of these it seems to do everything that the TrackIR does, with the right software.

 

[Coolhand]

http://n.camil.chez-alice.fr/index.php

this is the software i'm going to try when i've assembled the led array. It looks pretty well featured and you can see how it responds in the videos he's posted with the system running.

You can find full instructions on the site for how to construct and use the hardware, if you look at it, you might be surprised at how simple this is... the trick to it is positioning everything precisely but essentially straightforward

I've decided i'm going to try and make this entirely out of recycled parts, tomorrow hopefully i'll be able to get up to see my folks and get some of my stuff thats in storage there, soldering iron, and i might have a couple of old remote controls (i hoard old junk just for this type of scenario) up there that i can take apart for their precious LED's i've also got a box of components and old circuit boards so i can hopefully scrounge the resistors and cabling i need.

for the framework to seat the LED's i'm actually going to see if my old Lego technic is up there, seems like it would be a simple build, strong enough and easily adjustable. also wouldn't be as prone to bending as the wire solution offered on that page. If it works properly - and i might have problems with differing strength LEDs so may relent and order a set from somewhere - then i'll fabricate a better frame to hold the LED's from sheet acrylic, which should look a lot better than wire, or lego technic hanging off my head.