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FreeTrack Forum > FreeTrack : English Forum > Support : Tracking System > SpecterM's Free-Track Guide for NOOBS

RSS >  SpecterM's Free-Track Guide for NOOBS, Description of what I bought, how it was made and setting edits
SpecterM #1 28/08/2010 - 22h04

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Dont be a NOOB like me and go TRY THINGS till you know what your doing!!

Heres the mistakes I made
-bought lights that were NON Infrared
Don't waste your time or money buying lights that JUST WONT WORK!!
[EDIT-I see from other posts that some are using NON infrared just fine.  But what I notice is that there is  HUGE dependence on software adjusting which can be combersome if your not living in a black hole.  In otherwords.  you need to change settings constantly when its day, or night.]
-Search this forum for the camera you are using.
Try to learn as much as you can about the camera you are using before you break off the IR lens.  I broke the wrong thing.
-Only buy what you need.
This is supposed to be a cheap version of TRACK-IR.  3dollar lights add up.


Now heres what worked for me.

SHOPPING LIST


Software from http://www.Free-Track.net

Shopped at Digikey [Honestly, I tried buying lights at radioshack.  I went through MANY kinds.  Do yourself a favor.  Have patience and buy these, their cheap]
3X Infrared LED's
Price = About $10.00 shipped.

Shopped at RadioShack
Enclosed 4 "AA" Battery Holder With ON/OFF Switch
10 Ohm, 1/2W 5% Carbon Film Resistor (5-Pack)
5-Piece Basic Soldering Set
Price = Approximately $11.00

Shopped at Target
Logitech C120 Webcam - Black or C200
Price =  $20.00 on sale!

TOTAL COST OF PROJECT = APPROXIMATELY $41.00

Other Supplies.
Ball Cap
Wire from bad christmas lights.  :lol:
Electrical Tape
Pen Tubes
Rear computer slot fillin
Zip ties
Double sided foam tape
Floppy disk or camera negatives to use as light filter





CAMERA SETUP
-Note: I broke my first camera because i didnt know what I was doing.  the pics are different colors but the design of the camera is the same.

What To Do.
Buy camera.  I bought the  Logitech webcam 200,
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Remove the rubber plug on the side, take out the screw.
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Split the camera apart.
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Unscrew the lens from the frame that sits on the circuit board.
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Unscrew the backside of the frame from the circuit board.
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Remove the red glass that is in the frame, It may break, just clean it out good. (thats the IR filter)
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Cut out a small filter from the floppy disk or film negative and put it over the lense
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then put the camera back together.

NOTE: Do NOT remove the eye of the camera, this is the first camera I broke.
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MAKING MY HAT

I got my hat ready for my lights.  drilled holes and ziptied!
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Then I added some wire. Dry fitted.
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Used 2 sided sticky foam to attach my battery supply.
NOTE: This setup proves to be too heavy for the lid of the cap, But it was super easy to do and is good to just get going.
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Then I saudered the resistors in line on the positive
NOTE: See the diagram
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Extended the negative side of the battery terminal with extra wire.
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I covered the resistors with electrical tape and dry fitted the positive side then dry fitted the negative side.
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Then I clipped the ends to get rid of excess wire where the lights would go.
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Saudered the lights
NOTE: See the diagram.  -Be sure to check the lights for the positive terminal.
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Use electrical tape to cover any connections to stop them from grounding.
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Put all the lights through the pen holders.
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DIAGRAM:
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ADJUSTING SETTINGS TO GET IT WORKING SMOOTHLY

restarted computer, set everything to defaults.
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Stream/output size = 352X288
Stream/color space/compression = YUY2
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Press START, Then adjust the brightness down to 0
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Adjusted the threshold to the breaking point where the dots dissappear.
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Manually adjusted the camera focus to get the dots bigger.
NOTE: Dont make them too big, if they turn gray they wont work!
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Then I set the exposure to -1
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Notice the Green Dots!!
Edited by SpecterM on 04/09/2010 at 11h01.
Join the -=UGF=- Teamspeak, I'm here to help.  IP: 76.73.228.80 Port: 9987
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4steviewonder #2 30/08/2010 - 14h13

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Dude I so could have used this exact guide about 5 days ago after my second failed attempt. I have since completed a 3 point clip which works but still needs some final touches. This guide is perfect for noobs and Iwill defo use it in the future.
SpecterM #3 30/08/2010 - 14h40

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Yeah,  Honestly.  I know I have been criticized for not reading or doing any research.  But I think that was my problem.  I did read and do research.  there is so much FALSE information out there.  where people think they have a working unit and pre-maturely post or make youtube videos of their successes.  How the heck anyone gets this stuff working without using IR is beyond me.  Pluss.  this software isnt exactly easy and half the documents on this site are in French.

well, im happy you got yours working.  Thanks for posting.
Join the -=UGF=- Teamspeak, I'm here to help.  IP: 76.73.228.80 Port: 9987
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dewey1 #4 30/08/2010 - 17h40

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As I mentioned previously do not believe everything on youtube!

Do the research on this forum and more specifically the FAQ in FreeTrack About-Help,
will aid in any questions. There is plenty of English language support!
Keep in mind that there are more successes than failures.
Most forums only see the problems not the successful projects.

You should also give some credit to the people who helped you get through this.

http://forum.free-track.net/index.php?showtopic=2634

You could do this project for about $25 US, if you do your research first.
I did mine for $25 including all shipping costs! Camera, LEDS and other parts.
(assuming no purchased tools).
SpecterM #5 30/08/2010 - 18h01

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YES!!  Much credit to dewey1.  I thought of this the other day and forgot.  sorry.  If you have a saudering iron already, this project would have been 10bucks cheaper.
Join the -=UGF=- Teamspeak, I'm here to help.  IP: 76.73.228.80 Port: 9987
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SpecterM #6 20/11/2010 - 11h59

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I need some help.

I dug my freetrack out of the closet and thought Id give it another go.  I dont understand the settings.

sensativity, smoothing?  Whats yours set at for optimal performance?

Anyone got any screenies?
Join the -=UGF=- Teamspeak, I'm here to help.  IP: 76.73.228.80 Port: 9987
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rachel12 #7 10/01/2011 - 12h06

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Hi, I am also agree with Devey1 that there are less failures as compared to youtube. I find a lot of help from here. Thanks for sharing :D
rachel
number3 #8 10/01/2011 - 18h57

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This is great.  Exactly the kinds of step by steps pics I like to see.  Especially since I'm starting my own very soon.

Just one question.  What dimensions did you use for your 3 point setup?

In this form http://www.free-track.net/forum/index.php?showtopic=413 they mention the dimensions in mm but looking at your setup it doesn't seem like your two LEDs are 80 mm apart on the horizontal.

Also, how difficult was it to make sure the bottom two LEDs were level with one another?

And because the bill of the cap can easily bend, do you find that the distance between the two bottom LEDs change quite often?
BabyStomper #9 06/02/2011 - 22h44

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I know this thread is a little old, but I need some help.

I followed your diagram exactly and used all of the same exact parts that you did, except for the Christmas lights. I made sure that every connection is correct and in the right places. Unfortunately, when I turn on the power, nothing happens. After experimenting a bit with the wiring and double checking everything, I figured that one of the parts must be defective, so I built a whole new one including a new battery pack, but I'm still having the same problem. It simply does not turn on at all.

Any ideas on what's wrong? or was there maybe a mistake in your diagram?

Also, if there is a better setup that I didn't see, please send me a link to it. Thanks.
Edited by BabyStomper on 06/02/2011 at 23h04.
dewey1 #10 07/02/2011 - 12h48

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Are you using the SFH485P leds?

Post a good closeup picture for analysis.

Best guess is all leds in backwards and/or resistor value wrong.

Do not go by lead length for polarity on led. Look for the flat on the led (cathode)which is negative. This statement is true for almost all leds.
Edited by dewey1 on 07/02/2011 at 12h54.
BabyStomper #11 07/02/2011 - 18h12

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I ordered the same LEDs from the tutorial: http://search.digikey.com/scripts/DkSearch/dksus.dll?Detail&name=475-1470-ND

I went to Radioshack and got the same resistors as the OP: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2062309&kw=040293114947&sr=1&origkw=040293114947

In the picture I point out where the flat sides are and which way the resistors are facing (not sure if those matter, but I did them exactly like the diagram to be safe). I painted in where I had the battery pack connected as well.

My phone doesn't take pictures well enough to get a good shot of the soldering job I did up close, but I thought I did pretty well considering it's my first try.

This picture is just something I found on google, but the connections on mine look as good as this:

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I didn't know about pre-tinning the wires, but that couldn't be why m LEDs don't turn on, could it?

New thought: Could the problem be in the wire that I'm using? Is there a certain gauge I have to use or something?


Thanks for the reply by the way.
dewey1 #12 07/02/2011 - 22h05

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Where are your resistors located?
How many resistors?
How many batteries and what size?
What battery holder?

Need picture of battery/holder wiring.
BabyStomper #13 07/02/2011 - 22h16

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If you scroll over to the right side of the image (sorry it's so big) you can see the two resistors. I have the same 4x AA battery pack as in the tutorial and I drew in how I had it configured. red wire to the positive side with the resistors and the black wire to the negative.
benmeijer #14 07/02/2011 - 22h20

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have you checked your build with a digital camera? ...... IR light is invisible for your eyes!
dewey1 #15 07/02/2011 - 22h24

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Do not expect to see much visually from these leds.
They will have a very dim illumination. Barely visible.

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