DIY Lighthouse tracked object

I attended the VR hacakthon at the MIT Media Lab last weekend, which inspired me to finish off the open source hardware tracked object for the Valve/HTC Lighthouse system I’ve been working on since the release of the Triad Semiconductor TS3633 analog chip for Lighthouse tracking.

Here are two tracked objects in their early prototype form:

Here’s a short video of the device in action:

I’m using the Intel Curie module as the main processor in the system, as it gives me Bluetooth LE and IMU in one package. The prototype uses the Arduino 101, which breaks out the Curie in a convenient (if somewhat limited) Arduino form factor. I’ve added an FPGA shield of my own design on top to take care of the timing.

For the next iteration, I’m working on a much smaller board which will combine the FPGA and Curie module on a single board. This should have a much smaller form factor, making it more convenient to wear or to attach to physical objects.

I’ve set up a github repository at https://github.com/gevapatz/lighthouse so please clone it, hack it, and get in touch if you have any questions or modifications. More details to follow soon, but the git repository should be enough to get you going.