Close
0%
0%

Motio

Modular, wireless, open-source motion capture for everybody

alvaro-ferrn-cifuentesAlvaro Ferrán Cifuentes
Following
Liked Like project

Just one more thing

To make the experience fit your profile, pick a username and tell us what interests you.

Pick an awesome username
hackaday.io/
Your profile's URL: hackaday.io/username. Max 25 alphanumeric characters.
Pick a few interests
Projects that share your interests
People that share your interests

We found and based on your interests.

Choose more interests.

OK, I'm done! Skip
Similar projects worth following
2.6k views
1 comments
50 followers
View Gallery
Back in 2016 I started looking for an open source motion capture suit but not finding anything I resolved to do myself. Fast forward two years, the situation hasn't improved much. There are now more suit options, but still not open source, and the only open suit I managed to find hadn't released the sources.

To contribute to solving this problem I'm evolving the first "hobby" suit into a cleaner, more robust one. This new version will be completely wireless, being composed of individual modules, which simplifies suiting up and prevents cable entanglement when in storage.

Finally, since each module is self-contained they can be used as individual inertial controllers for simple guidance or set in configurations different to that of a person, for example to provide feedback on mechanisms or animals.

Each module contains an nRF51822 microcontroller that reads orientation data from a BNO055 IMU and transmits it over BLE. 

In addition, an optional low-profile joystick can be mounted to add extra degrees of freedom to the system or to use for precision movements. 

The whole is powered by a 1400mAh Li-Ion battery and includes a USB integrated charger and a State-Of-Charge chip to keep track of the remaining percentage.

Modules can be put to work together in a mesh, or be used individually as a remote control with two smooth movement interfaces and jerk recognition to execute specifc actions.

  • 1 × BNO055 9DOF IMU
  • 1 × NRF51822 M0 microcontroller with BLE connectivity
  • 1 × MCP73831 Power Management ICs / Power Supply Support1
  • 1 × AP2112K Power Management ICs / Linear Voltage Regulators and LDOs
  • 1 × STC3117 State Of Charge IC

  • Estimated battery life

    Alvaro Ferrán Cifuentes • 04/16/2018 at 16:46 • 0 comments

    Since I'm still working on the PCB I can't measure the actual current being drawn by the system, so in order to get an estimate I turned to the datasheets of the various components I'm using.


    The largest consumers are the IMU, which in its highest consumption mode (9DOF @ 100Hz) draws about 13mA, and the controller. This one is divided into the CPU, asking about 5mA, and the BLE radio, which goes up to 30mA. The rest of the chips need very little current in comparison and can be neglected.


    The battery having a capacity of 1400mAh, a rough calculation puts the battery life at a over 28 hours of non stop data transmission per charge!

  • Basic schematics

    Alvaro Ferrán Cifuentes • 04/16/2018 at 16:39 • 0 comments

    The module's schematics are pretty simple:

    As we can see, the microcontroller will read over i2c both data from the IMU and the battery's State-Of-Charge (remaining percentage) as well as the joystick's position if it's present.

    All of this data will then be sent over Bluetooth 4.2 for the client to process.

    The battery is charged directly onboard, so plugging a microUSB cable is all that's needed.

View all 2 project logs

Enjoy this project?

Share

Discussions

Tom Fleet wrote 10/25/2018 at 15:42 • point

Have you seen these little nRF5x modules you can get? I've played with them, with a similar application in mind. The 2nd link is a nRF52832, which is meant to support mesh AFAIK!

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/nRF51-M0-Ultra-small-Bluetooth-BLE-Module-4-0-Module-LIS3DH-Support-10-GPIOs/32697055436.html

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/New-product-Bluetooth-4-BLE-NRF52832-module-BMX055-9DOF-sensor-GT832D-01/32908267663.html?spm=a2g0s.8937460.0.0.1d9e2e0eYG9RDx

  Are you sure? yes | no

Similar Projects

A Li-Ion battery (1S - 6S) charger and tester controlled and monitored with ESP web page interface.
Project Owner Contributor

A Li-Ion battery (1S - 6S) charger and tester.

markwarreneemarkwarren.ee

How to use LIDL "smart" battery, to power custom electronic such as robots or ebike, Reverse engineering their bluetooth connectivity..
Project Owner Contributor

LIDL PARKSIDE Battery hacks

thomas-flayolsThomas Flayols

My ThinkPad L460 battery is acting up, and I am investigating it.
Project Owner Contributor

Investigating ThinkPad L460 battery BMS

shrinath-nimareShrinath Nimare

Squeak is a LoRaWAN GPS pet tracker with a very long battery life. It allows you to ask your pets to share their location
Project Owner Contributor

Squeak: GPS pet tracker

mihaicuciucmihai.cuciuc

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates

Going up?

About Us Contact Hackaday.io Give Feedback Terms of Use Privacy Policy Hackaday API

© 2025 Hackaday

Yes, delete it Cancel

Report project as inappropriate

You are about to report the project "Motio", please tell us the reason.

Send message

Your application has been submitted.

Remove Member

Are you sure you want to remove yourself as a member for this project?

Project owner will be notified upon removal.