Hardware Podcasts

162: I Am a Boomerang Enthusiast (Repeat)

Embedded.fm · 1 Mar 2019 · 1h 21m · Episode 162

What this episode covers

Alan Yates, a hardware engineer at Valve responsible for the Vive tracking system, explains the Lighthouse optical tracking technology, contrasting it with camera-based systems like Oculus. He details the engineering challenges of latency, GPU performance, and vestibular mismatch, and describes how the system uses spinning mirrors, photodiodes, and Kalman filters to achieve sub-millimeter precision. The conversation covers the transition from 3D-printed prototypes to mass production, the choice of ST and NXP microcontrollers, and Valve's philosophy of making hardware hackable for the developer community.

Most relevant to

large enterprises

Topics

Mentioned

Companies
Valve, iFixit
Products
HTC Vive, Lighthouse, Oculus Rift
Chips
ST Cortex M0, NXP Cortex M0, FPGA
Also
Doc OK, Trammell Hudson

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