The TL448K6D-VR System in package (SIP) contains all of the necessary processing power to create a SteamVR Tracked device.   This is all accomplished in a 10mm by 16.32mm footprint.   The SIP is delivered from Tundra Labs 100% functionally tested and programmed with SteamVR Firmware released from Valve.

Features:

The Tundra Labs TL448K6D-VR Module was created to make the design and manufacturing of SteamVR Tracked devices easier, lower cost and with significantly faster time to market.   For the first time these modules offer a fully scaleable production solution to satisfy any volume.   This scale spans from niche devices built in the 10’s of units to mass market consumer devices with volumes of   100,000+.   Contact Tundra Labs for volume prices of greater than 120 units)  

The ultra small form factor System in Package (SIP)   enables integration of tracking into devices that were previously unimaginable.   The overall mass of the device is also less than 1 gram which is a key attribute for body worn devices as well as Head Mounted Displays (HMD’s).

This module include two ARM Cortex M4 processors, an 8k Logic element FPGA and a 6 Degree of Freedom (DOF) Inertial Measurement Unit.   It is designed to use very minimal external components.   Just supply a 3.3V power supply, optical sensors and USB connection (or antenna) to create a tracked SteamVR device..   Power management and Battery charger is not included.

This SIP is also very extensible in terms of inputs and outputs (IO’s).   It features connection pads to connect up to 32 optical sensors and also has GPIO that can act as Digital Inputs, Digital Outputs for Haptic Control,   Analog Input and numerous bus interfaces including SPI, I2C and UART.   These IO’s can be used to connect buttons, IPD sensors or a peripheral Microcontroller that can bridge data communication to the SteamVR PC.   More information on this interface will be available in an upcoming Application Note.

Reference Material:

• TL448K6D-VR Datasheet

• Altium Symbol and Footprint Library

• DXF Footprint Outline

• 3D Mechanical File (.STEP)

• Evaluation Board/Reference Design

Bare Metal SDK:

TL448K6D-VR was first created with SteamVR Tracked devices in mind but we know that it is also an extremely powerful compute engine for a variety of electronics projects.   For this reason Tundra Labs is currently working on a firmware development SDK and development environment that will enable customers to co-develop FPGA logic, Microcontroller and Radio code using a 100% open source tool chain.

We’ve invested in the port of the wonderful TinyUSB library to the ATSAMG55 MCU that is on module.   This enables a number of additional great developer applications including:

• Porting of Circuit Python to TL448K6D-VR

• First time ever USB Mass storage bootloader for configuration of a ICE40 FPGA

• USB HID to FPGA bridge for peeking and poking registers

• Bluetooth to FPGA bridge

• So much more….

These SDK features, processing power and since makes the TL448K6D module a perfect fit for security research, embedded applications requiring dedicated logic (such as industrial/medical)   and many other applications

Please contact Tundra Labs if you are interested in developing for this platform and contributing to the SDK!

(more information coming soon)

Community:

Customers using TL448K6D-VR in their designs are encouraged to share their work with the community.   For this we have created three locations to discuss and share your work:

• Hackster.io Platform for SteamVR based projects

• Hacakday.io List for SteamVR Based Projects

• Hackaday.io List for TL448K6D-VR Embedded projects