Number of LEDs per cluster and spacing

[Higgy69]

Hi,

I have built my LED clusters as per Gun4IR ,4 clusters each with 3 LEDs, angled as |/.
(Had to rebuild Thingverse files as I am using Vishay 3 MM dia. LEDs.

Now my question is, are 3 LEDs per cluster ok, or is it better to just have 1 LED per cluster?
Also what about spacing. I currently have about 300 MM between clusters. Is further apart (at extremes of monitor screen) better?

I also have 2 Wii USB sensor bars on order to gut and install better IR LEDs.

Thanks

[SeongGino]

Tough question, because it relies a lot on like three different factors:

• What kind of IR emitters are you using? It could be the generics, or the hi-powered black case LEDs
• What size of display is this being attached to (and consequently, how far away from the display are you aiming)? The bigger the display -> the farther you'll probably want to sit back -> the dimmer the LEDs will look to the camera -> the more/brighter emitters you need or the higher sensitivity the camera needs to be set to.
• What the environment is like around your display? Reflections can really throw off tracking, even the tiniest bit. I found this out the hard way when I realized even my dark wood desk that my TV sits on was causing some bounce, and I've heard some had something similar behind/to the side of where they played that caused enough light bounce to confuse the camera and cause weird glitches.
• If you're doing DIY emitters, that might also depend on what your power requirements are like, whether you're planning to use a dedicated power brick or sipping power from a USB port.

So yeah, it's kinda something you have to "feel out" a bit for your play setup before getting things right. (^^;

Generally, the reason I recommend using SFH 4547s is reliability - I play on a 50" 4K TV that I sit about 6ft away from without lenses/~4ft with fisheye at minimum, but I can also go back a fair amount away up to about my 10ft cable length in the case I'm playing standing with a second person. However, said desk does have a bit of light bounce, so I uh... put a super hi-tech light shield to mitigate that.

(Using 3D printed enclosures I found on Thingiverse for GUN4IR LEDs, I honestly forget where I found them but there's a lot of different designs)

It's versatile, and I just have more hope that these will last longer. The Samco spec (the original project this is based off, and uses the tracking methodology pretty much verbatim) recommends just plain knockoff Wii Sensor Bars, but I've had burned through several that died in just a few months.

As for spacing, the general idea I've found is "as close to a square without being a square as possible" seems to work best - allowing the most tilt correction before tracking glitches and without having to rely on as heavy tilt compensation, which could affect things at far distances. It still needs to be taller than it is wide, but again, totally depends on your display setup and distance. I've roughly measured my emitters to be about 1.5x sensor bars apart, ish?

Though obviously that distancing thing applies to the current tracking system - maybe one day someone could contribute something that uses the GUN4IR crosshair layout (it would be ideal, but camera and IR heuristics and tracking and math and all that isn't my forte).

[brutez]

I have build this: https://geekonarium.de/en/lightgun-lichtknarre-leds-building/ for beamer support with 850nm High Power LED star pcb. I like that Tutorial.

Will this work?

[SeongGino]

I mean, any IR source will work so long as the arrangement of the emitters follows the Samco spec as posted above.

[brutez]

Yeah ok, i like the 3d printed housing more. Mine are a little heavy. Maybe i should change that or use my Ems top gun Bars.