Head Tracking for under 10€

[f2k sel 164]

I think I have Arduino accepting uploads now.

These are what I purchased, they seem to match the original pictures. I've still to instal the Gyro and test the full thing.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/141086292506?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/181171066383?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649

I was told that just because they say UK they still come form China and you wait just as long so I ordered for China to get the best price.

I'm still hoping I bought he right ones and don't forget USB cable.

https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CB-090-OK

A little dear but I knew I'd get it in 24hrs last one though.

Edited February 20, 2014 by F2k Sel

[Tonci87 163]

What if you move your head very slow, will the Gyro still detect the movement?

[jumpinghubert 49]

many thanks for sharing! Is it possible to buy a version with higher resolution to get still good results in situations tonci87 describes?

Is the precision better than your old trackir? What version was it?

[SnowSky 12]

I guess as it is used for quadrocopters it should be precise enough also for slower movement (stabilization regulations)

But don't take my word as I am still waiting for the parts :)

[Tonci87 163]

So, will someone make a video tutorial that shows how he sets up everything, especially the wiring? Where did you get the cabels?

[CaptainObvious 95]

What if you move your head very slow, will the Gyro still detect the movement?

It will, the hardware is more presice than your head :)

[blackpixxel 53]

And I would say that it is even more precise than the Freetrack-Solution.

[doveman 7]

OK, got it wired up but there's a few things that aren't clear.

There's 3 files at http://sourceforge.net/projects/gy512forfacetracknoir/files/ All 3 open in the Arduino software (it says they have to be in there own folder and creates this for me), so I'm not sure which is the right one to use. I've used gy_521_send_serial_HAT_ITG for now.

The guide doesn't say anything about needing to install a driver for the board but I guess that's covered under "Install the Arduino software". I found the instructions for installing the driver here http://arduino.cc/en/Guide/Windows#.UwYVyp1FBaQ It says it will show up under COM Ports before installing the driver, whereas in my case it was under Unknown Devices but apart from that, it was all good.

It's rather buggy in FTNoIR, as even though I've unticked the Roll Axis (which stops any Roll showing under Raw Input) under the Hatire settings and only have Pitch and Yaw mapped and enabled, whenever I press my Centre key (which I have to do each time I start it as it defaults to Yaw 108 on the Raw Input with the USB port facing to the right, which is how I intend to mount it on my headphones), it moves the Pitch output to the Roll Axis and the Pitche only shows reduced output (before +/87, after +/-50 whilst the Roll shows +/-95). If I have the USB port facing about 10-11 o'clock then the Raw Input shows Yaw 0. It's not really a problem though, just means I need to centre once each time after starting but the bug with the Pitch and Roll after centering is a showstopper.

EDIT: Here's a couple of photos showing how I wired it up in case they help anyone. There's no "right" way to do it really, I just decided to put the wires on the back of the board to keep the top looking tidy but I need to find a little box to put it in so that I can velcro that to the top of my headphones anyway, so it's not going to be seen.

EDIT2: I'm not sure if this device is meant to do more than Yaw, Pitch and Roll but if I enable X, Y and Z as well in FTNoIR, it doesn't show any Raw Input from those. I've flashed the second file "gy_521_send_serial_HAT_ITG_spring" now and that doesn't seem to have the issue with the Pitch/Roll axis after centering but I'm still seeing Roll Output despite the Roll Input being disabled and the only Input shown is Pitch and Yaw!

EDIT3: One nice advantage is that this seems to use below 1% of my CPU, whereas my LED tracking with PS3 Eye was using about 14%, so that could be an issue for games like ArmA that are very CPU-dependent or for people with not very powerful CPUs.

Edited February 20, 2014 by doveman

[blackpixxel 53]

EDIT2: I'm not sure if this device is meant to do more than Yaw, Pitch and Roll but if I enable X, Y and Z as well in FTNoIR, it doesn't show any Raw Input from those. I've flashed the second file "gy_521_send_serial_HAT_ITG_spring" now and that doesn't seem to have the issue with the Pitch/Roll axis after centering but I'm still seeing Roll Output despite the Roll Input being disabled and the only Input shown is Pitch and Yaw!

This is just a 3-axis gyro that is only for rotations. For x,y and z-data you would need a 3 axis accelerometer that measures linear movements. I am sure that you can also use some of these 6-axis sensors.

[f2k sel 164]

Just got mine up and running. Main issue was I couldn't get FaceTracker to see my Arduino, I did find a plugin.dll and it seems to work. I need to check if it's the latest but it works.

It took me a little while to get my head around the axis stuff, I like it with a little dead zone.

Compared to the Camera it's much better and smoother for me.

Probably get another couple so I can have cap and headphones without having to mess about swapping hardware.

Also works very well in GTL as long as I reduce roll a lot.

I don't know what the exact difference is in the gy_521 files but I found gy_521_send_serial_HAT_ITG_spring_reset.ino to be the best for me.

I found slightly less drift and so less re-centring .

Edited February 21, 2014 by F2k Sel

[doveman 7]

This is just a 3-axis gyro that is only for rotations. For x,y and z-data you would need a 3 axis accelerometer that measures linear movements. I am sure that you can also use some of these 6-axis sensors.

That's not what it says here http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/MPU-6050#.UwaVnp1FBaQ

[blackpixxel 53]

Oh ok, then you should be able to use one of the axis for leaning left/right in Arma by moving your head to the left or right.

[tvamvarg 0]

That's not what it says here http://playground.arduino.cc/Main/MPU-6050#.UwaVnp1FBaQ

Pretty cool, $12 for no-name board in august 2012, and we just ordered ours for $3 incl. shipping :)

It would seem to me that this is superior to TrackIR where you have to have two pieces of hardware (granted, having a passive headmount part like TrackIR does is somewhat nicer, on the other hand most of us are using wired headphones anyway, so...). Or can you find a use case where the TrackIR is vastly better for gaming?

Maybe TrackIR themselves will build one of these (wireless, then) and sell it for $50 (and bundling their great configuration software), undercutting their $150 camera solution. Or someone else will. Perhaps all high-end headsets will have these integrated within a year.

[doveman 7]

Oh ok, then you should be able to use one of the axis for leaning left/right in Arma by moving your head to the left or right.

Yes but as I said, FTNoIR isn't showing any input for the X,Y,Z axis, so either the firmware isn't enabling them or the Hatire plugin isn't I guess.

---------- Post added at 10:28 ---------- Previous post was at 10:18 ----------

Maybe TrackIR themselves will build one of these (wireless, then) and sell it for $50 (and bundling their great configuration software), undercutting their $150 camera solution. Or someone else will. Perhaps all high-end headsets will have these integrated within a year.

Yeah, I was wondering if we could make this wireless. I use a USB rechargable battery http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/301079254334?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1439.l2649 fixed to my headset to power my LED clip so that I don't have to use a USB cable, so I could use that for power but I'd still need a transmitter/receiver for the USB data. It'd only have to transmit a few feet, so wouldn't need to be very powerful and so shouldn't add so much draw that the battery runs out so quickly that it becomes annoying (it says it's sufficient to power a BT earpiece for 16 hours or an MP3 player for 17 hours so I'd think it should be fine and the receiver could be mounted on top of the monitor, so that it has a clear and direct reception path from the transmitter to minimise the power needed).

[f2k sel 164]

would something like this work.

http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-Control-arduino-by-bluetooth-from-PC-pock/

Edited February 21, 2014 by F2k Sel

[doveman 7]

would something like this work.

http://www.instructables.com/id/how-to-Control-arduino-by-bluetooth-from-PC-pock/

Thanks for the link. I found this on the same site which might be more appropriate http://www.instructables.com/id/Cheap-2-Way-Bluetooth-Connection-Between-Arduino-a/

I'm not going to spend any more on this project though (I would need to buy a BT adapter for my PC as well but the combined cost would still probably only be about £8) until someone's able to a) stop the Roll Axis Input receiving phantom data whenever I centre in FTNoIR and b) get the X,Y,Z axis working.

[f2k sel 164]

I agree there is something not right about the roll, I've mostly tuned it off by having a large dead zone so it doesn't effect the yaw.

[doveman 7]

I agree there is something not right about the roll, I've mostly tuned it off by having a large dead zone so it doesn't effect the yaw.

I've flashed the third firmware "gy_521_send_serial_HAT_ITG_spring_reset.ino" now and that's helped a lot. It still has the bug where the Roll axis gets enabled after centering (it's still not showing anything in Raw Input Roll, so it seems to be bypassing that stage somehow and going straight to the output) but at least it doesn't seem to be adversely affecting the Pitch anymore.

It's also fixed it so that Yaw defaults to 0 for both Raw and Output on starting, so there's no need to Centre every time I start.

[CaptainObvious 95]

OK here's a quick video of my unit in action, I'm very pleased with it in general, very accurate and good response times even when using a filter, have to tweak the dead zones and I/O degrees a bit tho.

I'm using the gy_521_send_serial_HAT_ITG_spring_reset, it has a nice auto-zeroing feature that slowly pulls the yaw back to zero, that negates the rather aggressive yaw drift I have in my MPU6050.

Sorry for the video quality, I filmed it with a potato

[f2k sel 164]

That looks better than mine but I haven't had chance to test again in Arma since changing the spring_reset, it was much better it GTL I did 10 laps with no resets.

CaptainObvious any chance you can post your settings?

Cheers sel.

[CaptainObvious 95]

CaptainObvious any chance you can post your settings?

Cheers sel.

Sure thing; arma3.ini

Facetrack is giving me some weird issues from time to time tho, suddenly I may need to invert the pitch axis for no apparent reason and the yaw may also start drifting

Now it's been running for couple of hours without issues.

[f2k sel 164]

Thanks I'll take a look tonight, I haven't had the direction change in game but setting it up was odd.

When I changed yaw direction pitch would also reverse, I think using global setting seemed to work better for me when setting it up.

[CaptainObvious 95]

Yep, Facetrack indeed does some odd things with axis'.

I just finished a ~2 hour session of fiddling around in the editor and Zeus, head tracking worked like a charm the whole time, awesomeness!

[wormeaten 0]

Is this in the end 6DOF or not. On all this video you can see only 3DoF no roll, no zoom, no lean.

[doveman 7]

Is this in the end 6DOF or not. On all this video you can see only 3DoF no roll, no zoom, no lean.

Not currently it's not. I don't know if this is fixable with new firmware or Hatire plugin for FTNoIR or if the gyro+accelerometer is just incapable of doing roll, zoom and lean.