EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

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admin
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EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

Post by admin » Wed Oct 14, 2020 12:15 pm

EDTracker quick start guide


This forum thread is intended to get customers that have purchased one of our range of DIY edtracker kits (self build or pre-built versions) up and running quickly.

Note that our EDTracker kits come with the Pro Micro pre-flashed with the correct version of firmware and so you will only need to preform the calibration process below to get your EDTracker up and running.


After plugging in your EDTracker into your computer please follow the following steps:




STEP 1 - checking drivers


When connected to your computer your EDTracker will appear as both a generic game controller and a USB serial ‘COM’ port. In most cases drivers for both these devices will be automatically installed via the Windows automatic update process. To confirm that the drivers have installed correctly do the following:

In the Windows search box (next to the Windows start button) type ‘set up usb game controllers’

You should see the option to set up USB game controllers appear in the search results. Click on it and the Game controllers window should appear


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You should then see the EDTracker listed as ‘EDtracker EDTracker2’. Double clicking on this entry should open up the properties window for the EDtracker


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Note that your EDtracker has not been calibrated yet so it is likely the test tab will not work correctly at this stage.



Next we need to check the driver for the COM port has been installed correctly. You can now close the above windows then right-click (not left-click) the Windows start button and in the menu that opens up select ‘Device Manager’. The device manager window will open. Next expand the section titled ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’:


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If installed correctly the EDTracker will normally appear as ‘USB Serial Device (COMx)’. Note that if you have previously manually installed the driver as shown in Step 2 below it will appear as ‘Arduino Leonardo (COMx). In some cases it may be called something different but if you see a yellow caution symbol, error message, or ‘Unknown device’ this probably means that Windows was not able to install a driver for the COM port. If this happens go to Step 2. Otherwise you can skip Step 2 and go to Step 3.



Step 2 - Installing a serial driver.

If Windows was not able to automatically install a serial driver you will need to do this step manually. First download the Zip file containing the Arduino driver below:

https://hobbycomponents.com/downloads/E ... _1.6.9.zip



Once downloaded unzip it to a convenient location on your computer. Next go back to device manager and right-click the entry for the EDTracker then select ‘Update driver’ from the menu that opens up.

A new window will then open. Click on the ‘Browse my computer for driver software’ option:


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In the next window that opens click the Browse button and navigate to wherever you unzipped the Arduino drivers zip file as shown:


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Click the ‘Next’ button to install the driver. Once installed you should now see the EDTracker appear under ‘Ports (COM & LPT)’ as ‘Arduino Leonardo (COMx)’. You can now move on to Step 3 below.




Step 3 - Calibrating your EDTracker

Before your EDTracker can be used correctly you need to do a full calibration INCLUDING calibration of the magnetometer. To do this download the following EDTracker GUI software:


https://hobbycomponents.com/downloads/E ... V4.0.4.zip


Download the ZIP file and unzip it to somewhere convenient on your computer.


PLEASE NOTE that the edtracker.org.uk website is currently down. When you first run the GUI it will attempt to contact the EDTRacker website and report an error. However you can ignore this error as it will not affect the calibration process or the operation of your EDTracker.


Open up this new folder and double click the file ‘EDTrackerUI4.exe to run the EDTracker GUI.



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In the EDTracker GUI, under the ‘Program EDTracker section’ select your EDtracker device using the drop-down menu as highlighted above. Note you may need to click the ‘Scan port’s button first.


Next click the ‘CONNECT TO TRACKER’ button to connect to the EDTracker. You can now perform the full calibration process. To do this please follow the steps show in the following YouTube video from 5 minutes and 34 seconds in:




Note that your EDTracker comes with the correct firmware pre-installed so you do not need to perform the firmware installation process - just the full calibration process. The video is slightly out of date and references the MPU9150 sensor, however the sensor module shipped with your EDTracker is the newer MPU9250. The MPU9250 is functionally identical to the MPU9150 and so the calibration steps are the same.

After doing the full calibration process your EDTracker is now ready to be used.

FatherCool
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:28 pm

Re: EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

Post by FatherCool » Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:34 pm

Hi I've been using EDtracker for about 5 years now and its great however I am keen to try to get it to work wirelessly. I have no experience with wirelessly connecting arduino boards to PC's but it is possible as you used to be able to buy the wireless version of the EDtracker back in the day, If I wanted to convert my board to wireless what would I need to do?

andrew
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Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:15 pm

Re: EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

Post by andrew » Mon Aug 23, 2021 3:12 pm

As nobody has been able to help with this I'll attempt to give what advice I can. I've never been able to get my hands on the wireless version so my knowledge of how it works it is limited but I believe it uses an ARM based microcontroller and so I imagine the code and design will be very different to the DIY version. Although it is technically possible to convert a DIY EDTracker to wireless by adding a suitable transmitter and receiver and modifying the firmware to work with it, I think it would be quite an involved process and not trivial I'm afraid. Unless of course there is some sort of USB over wireless device in existence.
Comments made by this poster do not necessarily reflect the views of Hobby Components Ltd.

FatherCool
Posts: 7
Joined: Thu Aug 19, 2021 1:28 pm

Re: EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

Post by FatherCool » Wed Sep 01, 2021 3:40 pm

Thanks Andrew, thought as much, oh well.

derim
Posts: 1
Joined: Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:38 pm

Re: EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

Post by derim » Thu Mar 24, 2022 2:41 pm

This should be readily doable with something like an ESP-32 bluetooth thing, and some controller HID stuff. But yeah -- it would definitely require a whole new firmware. @admin, is the firmware available somewhere at this point for custom developers to mess with?

Are these usable sketches or supported sketches? https://github.com/brumster/EDTracker2/

andrew
Site Admin
Posts: 1374
Joined: Sun Aug 05, 2012 4:15 pm

Re: EDTracker QUICK START GUIDE

Post by andrew » Thu Mar 24, 2022 3:50 pm

@admin, is the firmware available somewhere at this point for custom developers to mess with?

Are these usable sketches or supported sketches? https://github.com/brumster/EDTracker2/

Not quite if I've fully understood what you mean about usable or supported but the code you've linked to above is the current firmware which we flash into the Pro Micro in our DIY EDTracker kits. So yes it is fully usable, you just need a Pro Micro and a compatible accelerometer. Unfortunately though the firmware is no longer supported as EDTracker seem to have completely disappeared.
Comments made by this poster do not necessarily reflect the views of Hobby Components Ltd.

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