
Show HN: DIY Position Tracking Using HTC Vive's Lighthouse - ashtuchkin
https://github.com/ashtuchkin/vive-diy-position-sensor
======
ashtuchkin
Hey, author here. I used the system described in the link for indoor
stabilization of a drone, plus precise landing, to support an automatic
battery swap station project (have a video there). Worked pretty well, so I
decided to open-source it in hopes this would help fellow hackers.

Let me know if you have any questions!

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RobertLong
This is awesome!

Curious what your thoughts are on this vs one of the official SteamVR tracking
modules[1] which use the TS3633[2]? For $10 this is an awesome hack for off
the shelf components. However, for $70 + Shipping you can pick up 10 of the
tracking modules which filter out noise and do accurate envelope calculation.

[1]
[https://www.triadsemi.com/product/ts3633-cm1/](https://www.triadsemi.com/product/ts3633-cm1/)

[2]
[https://www.triadsemi.com/product/ts3633/](https://www.triadsemi.com/product/ts3633/)

~~~
ashtuchkin
Thanks! I actually haven't seen those, they look pretty good, basically
replace the custom schematics I needed to build.

The timing calculation still needs to be done somewhere though, I wish there
was a module that would do it internally and just publish the timing numbers -
that would be more scalable and then even Arduino would be able to handle
several sensors.

~~~
moron4hire
From what I understand, the official kit includes software for calibrating a
specific configuration of sensors in fixed relation to each other and figuring
out the timing parameters. Guess I find out for sure tomorrow!

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fest
Great project! When listening to an interview with Alan Yates[0] (main
designer of the Lighthouse) I was thinking about an application like this.

I recently did shop around for motion capture system (cameras tracking
markers) and one of the cheapest systems with comparable performance to OP's
came out to cost $5-8.5K.

[0] [http://embedded.fm/episodes/162](http://embedded.fm/episodes/162)

~~~
ashtuchkin
That's crazy :)

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emilburzo
A bit off-topic, but I was wondering:

How was the base station visualization[1] done?

[1]
[https://camo.githubusercontent.com/d9241f231a03d177d215f98bd...](https://camo.githubusercontent.com/d9241f231a03d177d215f98bdb2cdcd8e648ddab/687474703a2f2f692e67697068792e636f6d2f696a4d7a585246334f59425a362e676966)

~~~
jaflo
[https://youtu.be/J54dotTt7k0](https://youtu.be/J54dotTt7k0)

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thenomad
Fantastic!

Having been developing with the Vive for most of the last year for Left-Hand
Path
([http://store.steampowered.com/app/488760](http://store.steampowered.com/app/488760)),
and given I've got a lot of mocap experience before that, I can confirm that
Lighthouse's tracking is _ridiculously_ good.

It's not just as good as something like an Optitrack system: it's
significantly better.

If this provides comparable tracking to what the Vive offers, it's an
absolutely unbeatable price / performance combo.

~~~
ashtuchkin
I was really inspired by that too! The tracking is comparable, but not on par
yet - you need multiple sensors and IMU fusion to achieve the smoothness of
Vive. This is only a first step :)

~~~
thenomad
Ah, they're doing sensor fusion with inbuilt IMUs? That makes sense...

I have a colleague with some deep technical knowledge in this area - he's the
guy who did the heavy lifting when I built an inertial mocap suit a while ago.
I've pointed him at your project. If it turns out that it is of interest,
perhaps you can get some useful collaboration / suggestions out of that!

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moron4hire
I actually just arrived in Seattle to take the official HTC course on using
the Steam VR positional tracking system, and this was one of the first things
I saw as I got off the plane.

~~~
ashtuchkin
That's so cool :) let me know if I got anything wrong with the device or
geometry calculation! Also I would be happy to get any feedback from Steam VR
people!

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SuperPaintMan
I've been mulling a installation work based on exploring video solids[1]
around using cheap phone-VR mounts. This project is exactly what I need to
find the viewers position in the video/space. Any cheaper way to do this
without the Lighthouse devices?

[1] [https://theblackbox.ca/blog/vector-
video/](https://theblackbox.ca/blog/vector-video/)

~~~
ashtuchkin
Nice project!

There's a whole bunch of indoor positioning methods, having different
precision/simplicity/cost profiles, so you might need to shop around. Probably
cheapest and closest to my sensor is ultrasound sensors like
[http://www.marvelmind.com](http://www.marvelmind.com)

