fastrak

[Steve_HT]

Hello,

I'm trying to use the Polhemus fastrak unit. I have the unit connected on COM1 and a cyberglove on COM2. 'Cyberglove.dls' seems to work fine, but 'fastrak.dls' is unable to connect to the device, even though it's clearly available and running in the Immersion software.

What am I missing here?

I've also tried "Patriot_HeadHand" with both the patriot plug-in and the fastrak plug-in with no luck.

[farshizzo]

Did you specify the port before adding the fastrak.dls sensor? Your code should look something like this:

PORT_FASTRAK = 1
fastrak = viz.add('fastrak.dls')

[Steve_HT]

That doesn't seem to help

[farshizzo]

Are you getting an error message? If so, can you please post it.

[Steve_HT]

The code:

viz.go()

glove = viz.add('cyberglove.dls')

PORT_FASTRAK=1
polhemus = viz.add('fastrak.dls')

The Error:

************************************************** ****************************
** Loading newHandTest.py
************************************************** ****************************
cyberglove.dls CyberGlove Driver v1.0
fastrak.dls Polhemus Fastrak v1.0
** ERROR: Failed to connect to Polhemus Fastrak

[farshizzo]

Is the unit set to communicate over serial at a baud rate of 115200? You can check by making sure switches 1, 2, 3, 5, and 8 are UP.

[Steve_HT]

Yep, they are set. As I said, it communicates just fine with the Immersion Technologies software. Is there perhaps a Polhemus driver that I'm missing, or something like that?

[farshizzo]

If you are connecting the Fastrak over USB, then you do need to install a driver. But, as far as I remember, you don't need any additional drivers when connecting over serial.

You mentioned that the Fastrak communicates fine with the Immersion software. Did you mean that it communicates fine with the Polhemus software? The CyberGlove is an Immersion product, not the Fastrak.

[Steve_HT]

Yeah, I uploaded new Polhemus firmware onto the Fastrak, but otherwise have not been using any Polhemus at all. My communications are through the standard serial port.

[farshizzo]

Sorry, I'm a little confused. Have you successfully communicated with the Fastrak using the software that came with it? There should be an application called FASTRAK GUI or FT GUI.

[Steve_HT]

We have never gotten the software delivered by Polhemus to work. All of our communications with the Fastrak have been through either Hyperterminal or Immersion Technologies' Device Control Unit.

[farshizzo]

I believe our fastrak plugin uses the same library to access the data as the FASTRAK GUI. Have you contacted Polhemus about this problem? I'm afraid there is not much more I can do. One option might be to use the VRPN plugin to access the Fastrak. I've never tried it myself, but VRPN claims it supports the Fastrak.

[Steve_HT]

Okay, thanks

[Steve_HT]

Okay, I have the Fastrak GUI up and running and talking to the box, and still getting the same response when I try to load the fastrak.dls:

cyberglove.dls CyberGlove Driver v1.0
fastrak.dls Polhemus Fastrak v1.0
** ERROR: Failed to connect to Polhemus Fastrak
Loading File: hand.cfg
** Load Time: 2.03 seconds

[farshizzo]

That's good you got it working with the GUI. What was the solution to that? I've made some small modifications to our fastrak sensor so it prints out a more useful error message. Email me at lashkari@worldviz.com and I will send you this new version. Hopefully this will help us track down the root of the problem.

[Steve_HT]

i'm not sure. Perhaps a new computer. I installed the software and it started running right away.

I've sent you an email.

[acidkore]

What advice would you give to someone who is trying to use the the fastrak dls over a USB connection? FTgui works just fine, but with the following code:

polhemus = viz.add('fastrak.dls')
polhemus.reset()
viz.tracker()

one of two things happen. Either the boring error message:
fastrak.dls Polhemus Fastrak v1.0
** ERROR: Failed to connect to Polhemus Fastrak over USB or COM1

Or the program simply exits instantly after opening a new window and giving the following output:
fastrak.dls Polhemus Fastrak v1.0
** NOTIFY: Connected to Fastrak over USB Connection
2 station(s) detected

Which to me seems like its working? This also happens on the testPolhemus script. I get the same results whether or not I include the "PORT_FASTRAK = 1" option or any variation thereof. How should I go about making this work?

[farshizzo]

Hi,

When we tested the Fastrak here we noticed that the USB drivers were very unstable. We reported these problems to Polhemus and they seem to have fixed it. Do you have the latest USB drivers? Also, are you using the fastrak.dls that comes with the latest version of Vizard (3.00.2007) ?