DIY Rift - 3D printable 7 inch version

[Sid]

Hi all,
Thought I'd share a DIY build myself and a friend have been working on as part of a university project.
The build comes in at roughly 330g without cables or headtracker. It uses the 7 inch 1280x800 screen and 5x lenses introduced in the DIY rift thread a while back.
Overall, the cost of the bare unit without a headtracker comes to about AUD$160, not including services such as printing or perishables which we had on hand.

hmdcollage.png

The unit takes about 20 hours to print, uses roughly 25m of PLA and prints in 5 stages (2 lense holders, face mount, screen casing and mounting plates).

We're currently doing some basic Unity development with Kinect integration for room tracking. We're aiming to push the project wireless to enable the freedom to walk around. AR and FPV applications hopefully on the horizon. There's also development of a DIY headtracker using the Sirius Navigator model IMU with a pro-mini Arduino.
If there's any interest we're happy to upload to thingiverse once finalized.
Special thanks to people like Namielus, Geekmaster, cybereality, rfurlan and other members of the community who have been great resources of information. Certainly helped kick the project into gear.

Thoughts, feelings, concerns?

Render_VNS1_TRIISO.png

[android78]

Hi Sid, that looks great to me. I really like the IPD adjustment ability. It looks like you are using 2" lenses in this. Do you find it difficult to get the lenses close enough together to get them centred in front of your pupils without digging into your nose? I have a larger then average nose size, I guess.

[Sid]

Do you find it difficult to get the lenses close enough together to get them centred in front of your pupils without digging into your nose?

Not particularly, eveything seemed to combine without trouble on the first go. Perhaps it's just us though, we haven't had too many people trial it out yet.
Worth noting that this model's front plate (the red section) is quite uncomfortable as an early design, so there will be readjustments. We've moving to new face foam (http://www.fishpond.com.au/q/Goggle+par ... =405660138) with a different countour, so we might find it an issue with the new design.

[V8Griff]

That looks seriously neat.

I'm wondering why you've mounted the control box on the HMD though? I'd have thought from a balance and weight point of view you'd do as Oculus have and put it remotely on a cable.

[Sid]

Updated the face mount. Much comfier than the previous model.
The lenses are pushing a little close to the face now, however it's designed so that the face mount can slide on, and adding a sleeve can help with spacing.

Update_low_res.png

I'm wondering why you've mounted the control box on the HMD though? I'd have thought from a balance and weight point of view you'd do as Oculus have and put it remotely on a cable.

Yes that's a bit of a factor at the moment. Ideally we were thinking of putting a Raspberry Pi on the other side, adding some webcams and (with the exception of a required battery pack) having a completely portable AR device.
The cable does add some troublesome biased weight. We'll probably move to a lighter cable with some counter-weight hardware before we try to offset the screen board to the side.

[V8Griff]

I'm wondering why you've mounted the control box on the HMD though? I'd have thought from a balance and weight point of view you'd do as Oculus have and put it remotely on a cable.

Yes that's a bit of a factor at the moment. Ideally we were thinking of putting a Raspberry Pi on the other side, adding some webcams and (with the exception of a required battery pack) having a completely portable AR device.
The cable does add some troublesome biased weight. We'll probably move to a lighter cable with some counter-weight hardware before we try to offset the screen board to the side.

The other thing I thought of was it also makes the device more vulnerable to expensive damage if dropped. All the HMD's I've worked with (I operated Virtuality systems for well over 10 years) had the minimal amout of electronics in the HMD, I'd think a small belt worn unit would be preferable.

[Sid]

V8Griff, certainly contained electronics in the final product.
We're anticipating a jump to 1080p screens which would presumably have different sized driver board which might be small enough to tuck into behind the front plate, or perhaps not, which means something like a belt will be preferential.
On the idea of a belt, we were thinking arm strap (for the power and and maybe screen driver board), but I suppose a belt unit would be more universal. Maybe in a camel pack instead, I've seen that idea come forward in another thread. To be explored

[WiredEarp]

Great work with this Sid! I think it will be quite valuable for the community. 3D printers are awesome!

[Sid]

Cheers WiredEarp, having a lot of fun with this project.
Had a chance to compare it to an Oculus dev kit recently, still a way to go.

[Hannibalj2]

Hey Sid, I love the design, but to be honest, I fell in love with your multicolor 3d CAD design!

Maybe for fun you could print in those same colors. It would be a hit with Kids!!

Awesome stuff!!

[Sid]

Headtracker using a pro-mini and a Sirius Navigator IMU

headtracker.jpg

I fell in love with your multicolor 3d CAD design!

I'm not sold on the colours, much prefer the black model.

[Sid]

Files attached for this version if anyone is interested.
Not finished, but wanted to get a draft out there. Haven't integrated headtracking just yet.
Let us know if there's any issues.

VNOne_v3_1_Release_13_08_08.zip

VNOne_v3_1_exploded_view_2.jpg

-Sid

[sinantamer]

Files attached for this version if anyone is interested.
Not finished, but wanted to get a draft out there. Haven't integrated headtracking just yet.
Let us know if there's any issues.

VNOne_v3_1_Release_13_08_08.zip

VNOne_v3_1_exploded_view_2.jpg

-Sid

Hej Sid

Thanks a lot for sharing. Is this for the N070ICG0 display?

[Sid]

Is this for the N070ICG0 display?

Screen link here.

I don't imagine there's a difference between the N070ICG0 and the N070ICG model, so I would say so.

[kucau]

Hi, Sid. extremely interested with your project. I have N070ICG0 coming in .. could please elaborate more on how to get headtracking to function . thanks

[Sid]

Hi, Sid. extremely interested with your project. I have N070ICG0 coming in .. could please elaborate more on how to get headtracking to function . thanks

In the zip folder attached above there is a parts list that has the sources for an Arduino Pro Mini, and a Sirius Navigator IMU. The wiring should be like this, although use the 3.3V and not the 5V pin on the IMU.

The software to upload to the Arduino can be found here. This allows for serial output that can be read by freepie (natively) or something similar. Currently we output the data over an Arduino USB interface, however we'll be looking to get this outputting over a bluetooth connection (I believe there's some hardware links in the parts-list).

We still haven't got around to update the model with a physical mounting point unfortunately. We're holding out to see if the Nexus 7 2 screen custom driver board comes through before we update the design. Busy days.
Let me know if there's anything else I help with.

[MyCrtFellOnMe]

Any idea of how much it might cost to get this 3D printed and shipped to oneself? I've never had any experience with the 3D printing market and have no idea what it runs someone to print off a few parts. Look forward to more updates, hope this can be a more economic option compared to the rift! (not saying the rift is over priced, I'm just not really too concerned with head tracking, I'd rather keep using my mouse and keyboard for now )

[Sid]

Any idea of how much it might cost to get this 3D printed and shipped to oneself

Good question, not too sure.
I think setting up the new design on a site like Shapeways might cost over $100 per print, so probably not much reasoning there.

We could potentially print a model and sent it to you if you cover the shipping (probably around AU$60 for international), but we're having some issues with large/long prints on our Ultimaker, so could be a while. Plus, since there will be redesign based on the HD model over the coming months, I would say it's worth waiting.

Perhaps if you have a uni in the area they might be willing to help, they're always looking for ways to use their printers (if they have them).

[will1384]

I made up DIY HMD using some of your 3D printed parts, over at

http://www.mtbs3d.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=19607

Thanks for the files , any updates ?

The aa0700023001 LCD I used was taken out of a monitor and was just a hair wider than the N070ICG0 / N070ICG LCD, the aa0700023001 LCD did not fit into the 3D printed part, but did not seem to have a negative affect on use.

[atomdude]

HI

i am building my own HMD. but i am stuck at the software, which application i should download to get it to work???? please help i am desperate!!!

[Bluedeath]

it depends most common combination iis tridef for 3dize games in side by side (it also has an oculus mode talored for HMD)