EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

EDracker products
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Tiltosteron
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by Tiltosteron » Sat Sep 05, 2020 3:14 pm

Thanks alot for your time and help Andrew, i finally managed to fix the issue by completely reinstalling a fresh windows version :D

andrew
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by andrew » Sun Sep 06, 2020 7:32 am

That's great. It was A drastic solution but something was defiantly messed up with Windows. Thanks for reporting back anyway.
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Azet15
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by Azet15 » Tue Jan 05, 2021 7:32 pm

I recently started having an issue with my EDtracker, it was working fine.
I had to unplug it to reroute cables now windows wont let me flash it, it says the Unable to download sketch. I have the UI4.0.4.0 with the arduino drivers on com 5. the device seems to work ok in the UI but when in game (Elite) it is unusable. Is the lack of a sketch the issue here and if so how do I force windows to download it?
really lost without now.
thanks

andrew
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by andrew » Wed Jan 06, 2021 9:03 am

All our EdTracker kits come pre-flashed with the firmware so unless you have actively flashed it with something else you should never need to re-flash the firmware. The error message you're seeing in the GUI is just it complaining that it can't download the latest version form EDTracker because their site is currently down.

If you ignore this error message and continue into the GUI are you able to do the full calibration (including calibration of the magnetometer) ?

To do this you can follow our calibration guide from step 3 onwards in this post:

viewtopic.php?f=130&t=2971
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Witorwitor
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Joined: Mon Jan 11, 2021 11:17 pm

Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by Witorwitor » Tue Jan 12, 2021 1:10 am

I have used a number of MPU9250 from a Chinese supplier and I found that they rarely work as expected. recently I ordered 5 and only one gave me results close to acceptable. I have also purchased MPU9250 from Hobby components and I am experiencing the following issue. When I move my head left-right (yaw) the head in GUI always comes back a bit. I have tried to calibrate it many times following Broomster videos, but no mater how many times I try I can not get rid of that issue.
The issue is show on this video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6MNSWrxaIY

So far I have tried 7 different MPU9250 and only 2 of them are close to being usable as an edtracker. the ones that are not suitable give me yaw movement when I only pitch my head up and down, do not move at all or move in a yaw direction only when my head is pitching up and down and do other weird stuff.

My question really is: Are MPU9250's offered by Hobby Components any different to others available on amazon, ebay or from China? Do you test them in any way to confirm that they will actually work as expected in edtracker? So far the one I bought form Hobby components kind of works (as shown on the video above), but it is really not exactly what i was expecting. My experience so far makes me doubt if properly working edtrackers with MPU9250 even exist.

andrew
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by andrew » Tue Jan 12, 2021 10:02 am

So far I have tried 7 different MPU9250 and only 2 of them are close to being usable as an edtracker. the ones that are not suitable give me yaw movement when I only pitch my head up and down, do not move at all or move in a yaw direction only when my head is pitching up and down and do other weird stuff.
I have see this issue in the past where pitch and yaw seem to be mixed and I'm pretty sure this is caused by a faulty accelerometer. I don't know if this is a result of untested/faulty parts, or the accelerometer getting damaged during the manufacturing process, but it is likely you're in receipt of faulty parts and I would advise sending them back to whoever you purchased them from.

My question really is: Are MPU9250's offered by Hobby Components any different to others available on amazon, ebay or from China?
I really can't say if they are or not because I don't know where the ones you purchased came from. What I can say is that we do pay a higher price for ones we buy simply because they are manufactured to a higher quality and so far we've not seen any issues from our current suppler.

Do you test them in any way to confirm that they will actually work as expected in edtracker?
Yes, we calibrate and test the accelerometer on every MPU9250 we sell. We calibrate and spot check the magnetometer on a few from each batch because it's not practical to test them all but it is rare to see an issue with the magnetometer. As for pre-built EDTrackers we do a full calibration and test for both the accelerometer and magnetometer.


I've taken a look at your video but I've not seen this behaviour before so I'm not sure what could cause it but A couple of things to check...

The magnetometer is incredibly sensitive to even the slightest movement. I don't know if you're testing it mounted on a headset but could there possibly be some slop in the EDTracker when it's moved? I.e. springing back a little. It would only have to be a tiny amount to cause what your seeing.

Also what does the calibrated magnetometer look like, is it two perfect spheres with no distortion?
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Witorwitor
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by Witorwitor » Fri Jan 15, 2021 11:10 pm

Thank you very much for your response. I have already bought a few components form Hobby Components and I have always been very impressed by your amazing customer service.

There is no slop what so ever. It is mounted with screws in a custom 3d printed case and using stiff and solid attachment to the headset. The magnetometer calibration shows 2 nice spheres an was done numerous times with more or less the same result. Edtracker shown on the pictures below is a bit taller as MPU9250 is mounted on a header socket to enable quick replacement of the MPU for testing purposes. It is interesting that you have never seen this behaviour before. I now have 2 (one with Hobby components MPU9250) which do that and I also have a friend who has one showing the same issue.

You mentioned that accelerometers sold by Hobby components are tested and calibrated. Does that mean that calibration can be somehow saved in the MPU9250? If it is not a company secret would you mind sharing how do you do it?
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andrew
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by andrew » Sun Jan 17, 2021 9:35 am

There is no slop what so ever. It is mounted with screws in a custom 3d printed case and using stiff and solid attachment to the headset.
Ah ok, it was worth checking as the magnetometer is very sensitive to small moments and could have explained it.

The magnetometer calibration shows 2 nice spheres an was done numerous times with more or less the same result.
Well this helps rule out interference from the headsets speakers but just to be sure have you tried calibrating it without it being mounted on the headset?

It is interesting that you have never seen this behaviour before. I now have 2 (one with Hobby components MPU9250) which do that and I also have a friend who has one showing the same issue.
No, I don't recall seeing this issue before so yeah, it is odd that you have several that are doing it.

One option you may want to consider if you cant resolve the issue is that we could arrange to get it back so that I can take a look at it. If it turns out to be a faulty sensor it can then be swapped out.

The only other thing I can suggest is that you post a screenshot of the EDtracker GUI to see if I can spot anything odd going on there. Although I doubt there will be anything obvious.

You mentioned that accelerometers sold by Hobby components are tested and calibrated. Does that mean that calibration can be somehow saved in the MPU9250? If it is not a company secret would you mind sharing how do you do it?
Ah no, sorry, the calibration is stored in the Arduino, not the MPU9250. To test them we have a test jig which consists of a clamp with pogo pins which we insert the module into. The other end is connected to an Arduino running the EDTracker firmware. This allows us to quickly check each module.

As I mentioned before, we test the accelerometer of every MPU9250 module we sell but that said, your issue sounds like it's magnetometer related. Again just to reiterate about testing the magnetometer, we spot check a few from each batch plus any that get sold as part of a pre-built EDTracker kit. So it is possible you could have an issue with the magnetometer but we just don't see any issues with any of the ones we test from our current supplier which yours will be from.
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Witorwitor
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by Witorwitor » Mon Jan 18, 2021 6:29 pm

This is my magnetometer after calibration in edtracker. tried to take screenshots from different angles. Do you see anything suspicious? After another magnetometer calibration still the same issue as shown on the video in previous post.
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andrew
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Re: EDTracker Bundle (HCKITS0021, 21B, 21E, 21F, 21G, 21H & 21I)

Post by andrew » Tue Jan 19, 2021 1:20 pm

Everything looks fine but the spheres do look a little distorted. There seems to be a couple of small bumps on them which could be a sign of magnetic interreference. For comparison I've just grab one and done a calibration test to show what I'd expect to see...

EDTracker UI 4.0.4.0_Magnatometer_Example.png
It's subtle but the magnetometer is very sensitive. Where you able to try it when it's not mounted on the headset?
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