Designed a small passive marker(retroreflector balls) optical motion capture camera. FPGA-based, image to rays+stats at 120Hz. Daisy-chaining PoE+ & GigE to reduce the cable mess. Starter system of 8 cams + extras should be ~$2k, sub-mm accuracy in 6x6x3m. Would you buy one?
@spirit532 Is the firmware open source or not?
@purpleidea I still haven't figured out how to get to the magical part of the universe where you can make opensource stuff and also get paid for it.
@spirit532 In your case I assume you're selling hardware, are you not?
But in the extreme if you're that protective, hire a trusted third party and escrow the source and have it released as GPLv3+ three years from now. (Updates and bug fixes come three years late as well... It rolls...)
@purpleidea Well, this is just a design, nothing is for sale yet. Releasing the sources when active production and support ends is fine, though in most cases no one picks it up to continue development.
@spirit532 Yes you should release when production/support ends, that should actually be the law, however escrow a *fixed* amount of time after release so that tinkerers can improve your product!
Of course I personally think open sourcing from the start is better, but that's your choice.
Are you not selling the hardware??
@purpleidea If I was selling the hardware already, I wouldn't just be posting renders.
@spirit532 What I mean is *when* you have hardware ready, that's the thing you're selling! The source can be open and it only makes demand for your product increase because the internets can make your software better!
@purpleidea The internets very, very rarely make anything better.
Oct 11, 2026, 11:18 AMSo you got all the ideas and relevant algorithms and so on from what? Developed by yourself? ... Cmon! 😄
@micha @spirit532 this is not a helpful reply
@purpleidea @spirit532 For now, the internets have just rolled in and started making what sounds like demands. :)
@infosecdj @spirit532 Op asked if we would buy the thing. If it's not open source, then, no, definitely not. I have no demands. I love the idea of seeing this as a product, but it's about freedom not cost for me and the person who I'm inquiring on behalf of.
@purpleidea @infosecdj The software will be fully offline with the license granted by virtue of owning the hardware, and it will have an SDK with an open comms protocol for pulling data out and controlling the cameras, as that's standard in the industry for analysis. The hardware, HDL and firmware will remain closed for now, TBD in the future.
If you think this is unreasonable, it's not on me.
Oct 11, 2026, 8:37 AM@spirit532 I think it sounds really interesting but I couldn’t justify the price tag. What’s driving the cost? Is it the FPGA or the sensor?
@jaseg The costs are spread fairly evenly across the entire electronics BOM, the rest is mechanical(but I'm not locked down on the prices), assembly, miscellaneous(lens, etc). I'm quoting an estimated retail price of course, but this is about as cheap as it can possibly get for a mocap-capable camera in low quantity. The FPGA is a low-end Gowin, the sensor is mono, mass automotive Omnivision, as cheap as can be. Lens is ~$5. Going up to 1-5k qty it's possible to get <$100/cam retail price.
Oct 11, 2026, 9:47 AM@spirit532 @whitequark if this is existed back when i was doing room-sized gestural interfaces we would have killed! the vicon cameras were so expensive and large