VR Tracker

Here is VR Tracker brand new website !

All updates are now on the Blog !

http://julesthuillier.com/vrtracker/

As the project is growing and I would like to release a Unity Asset so that people could start playing around with VR Tracker, I need to develop a software architecture that is stable and could easily expand to more features. Therefore, let's start with some UML to design the software :

I think you all know Trello task manager, so here is the board with the tasks left to do : https://trello.com/b/5nqdw4IE

If you are reading this, you might have understood by now that we are tracking an infrared light on the user's headset.

In the first version, the IR leds are simply powered by a small battery and always on. But now, what if we added a little Wifi (ESP8266) chip as there is on the camera to control them ?

What for ?

Well if the system is used with multiplayer or if there is some interferences due to sunlight, the wireless infrared tag could be "pinged" to ensure we are tracking the good tag. It would allow to track different users and even "objects".

What do you think about that ?

Hi !

Here is a big update for VR Tracker ! Now the Arduino-NRF24L01+ on every camera has been replaced with a WIFI chip, the ESP8266 (an ESP12E on NodeMCU board).

Why this choice ?

Well using Wifi allows to remove the gateway, you can access to your camera directly. Also the code can be updated wirelessly, which is very nice ! Moreover,, for future developments, it will allow a better flexibility.

Oh and BTW, the chip cost less than 4$ !

What is going to change ?

First we remove the Gateway. Therefore all calculations that used to happen in the Gateway must happen the PC / Smartphone. As we are going to use Unity to develop applications and games, we will have to include OpenCV in unity (which can be a bit tricky) and translate the code from python to C#.

Want a look at it ? Here you go :

How to plug it ? Here you go !

The code is coming soon, don't hesitate to ask for it ;)

Just tried a quick speed test with the ESP8266. The ESP8266 is using Arduino, connected to the camera (CmuCam5) using SPI and sending data to my PC wwith Websockets (throug a router).

First test

I have made a loop on the ESP8266 sending a counter (a 10 bytes char) to my PC. It is not getting any data from the camera right now.

Result : it sends data at 82 FPS

Second test

Same as before, but I am getting data from the camera and parse it in each loop.

Result : 42 FPS

As the camera is limited by its 50 FPS speed, it looks like the transmission delay is not that bad !

I just received a pair of ESP8266 wifi chips on a ESP-12E board. They are going to replace the NRf24L01+ / Arduino that were used to transmit infos from the cameras.

I'll start porting the code right away !

Hey ! I have made a quick video (well it's 10min) about the technology : what's inside, how does it work... It sums up all the text much faster ;)

Sorry for the english / accent....I am french :(

Here it is, a shot at UML : Link Draw.io