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® ANUAL FOR MODELS VIPER 4 VIPER 8 VIPER 16 URM18PH392 May 2020 Rev. A Rev. A May 2020...
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Polhemus. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. While every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this manual, Polhemus assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.
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EN61000-4-8:2010 Power Frequency Magnetic Fields EN61000-4-11: 2004 Voltage Dips and Interrupts Note: The conducted emission herein only applies if a Polhemus-supplied power supply is used with the VIPER™ unit. Electrical Safety Approvals IEC 60601-1 Medical Electrical Equipment, Edition 3.1 Classifications...
USER MANUAL ANUAL ™ This user manual serves as a reference guide for the setup and operation of the Polhemus VIPER tracker. To quickly set up and run a new VIPER™ system, refer to Section 3. GETTING STARTED. This section offers a step- by-step approach to guide you in installing, configuring and running your device in a simplified scenario of one Source and one Sensor.
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Do not operate the instrument in the presence of flammable gases or fumes. Operation of any electrical instrument in such an environment constitutes a definite safety hazard. Only use the sync port with a Polhemus provided sync cable and in accordance with the instructions in this manual. ...
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USER MANUAL LEANING The only required maintenance is cleaning the System Electronics Unit (SEU), Sources, Sensors and Cables. If the instrument requires cleaning: 1. Remove power from the SEU. 2. Clean the external surfaces of the SEU, Cables and external shells of the Sources and Sensors with a soft cloth dampened with a mixture of mild detergent and water.
USER MANUAL ABLE OF ONTENTS How To Use This Manual ............................4 Specification ................................7 Table of Contents..............................9 List of Figures ............................... 11 VIPER™ SYSTEM OVERVIEW ........................13 ............................ 13 NTRODUCTION 1.1.1 VIPER™ .................... 13 MOTION TRACKING WORKS VIPER™ ......................
1.1 I NTRODUCTION The Polhemus VIPER™ is an electromagnetic tracking system based on a scalable architecture that supports up to 16 Sensors and 4 Sources in a single chassis. The flexible VIPER™ design offers unprecedented versatility and scalability for the Polhemus motion tracking user.
USER MANUAL 1.2 VIPER™ SYSTEM COMPONENTS The VIPER™ System consists of a System Electronic Unit (SEU), one to sixteen Sensors and one to four electromagnetic (EM) Sources. Communication with the system is via USB 2.0 or RS-422. The system only requires 5 volt power.
USER MANUAL FIGURE 4. VIPER™ SEU DIMENSIONS (APPROXIMATE), INCHES (CM) 1.2.1.1 LED P ATTERNS Startup sequence: 1. All SEU LEDs turn red for approximately 2 seconds, and then flash green once. 2. Each sensor board will flash a blue LED pattern corresponding to detected Source frequency: Sensor Ports 1, 2, 3, or 4 will flash blue: ...
USER MANUAL 1.2.2 ENSOR Position and Orientation (P&O) is calculated at the EM center of the Sensor device, relative to a Cartesian origin location in the motion tracking area. By default, this reference location is at the EM center of a VIPER™ Source, so all calculated Sensor P&O is relative to that Source.
USER MANUAL 1.2.3 TYLUS The Stylus is a pen-shaped device that is tracked positionally in three dimensions as well as angularly. A push button switch is integrated to give the user control of the data output. Stylus position measurements are calculated at the tip of the Stylus, using precise factory calibration.
FTT® (Fly True Technology) is a revolutionary real-time magnetic distortion mitigation method exclusive to Polhemus. The benefits are most noticeable in a tracking environment with electromagnetic distorting conditions, namely the presence of certain conductive metals that support magnetic eddy currents. These...
USER MANUAL FTT® should start with the Sensor in “Home” location and with the FT-Sensor’s SEU Sensor port in a GREEN LED state. The Sensor port LED will alternate GREEN BLUE until Sensor is “Homed” this way. At introduction, VIPER™ FTT® has two modes of operation: Stationary Source Mode for conventional tracking applications where VIPER™...
USER MANUAL 2.3 E XTERNAL SYNC The VIPER™ External Sync port accepts a standard USB Type C connector. Pins A7 and B7 are the active sync pins as illustrated in Figure 9 below. Functionally, VIPER™ External Sync hardware can operate in two modes. These modes are configured using the SYNC MODE command, detailed in Section...
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USER MANUAL 3. GETTING STARTED 3.1 S VIPER™ ETTING UP HARDWARE FOR THE FIRST TIME When setting up VIPER™ for the first time, it is highly recommended that you start by experimenting with one Source and a couple of Sensors in a standard configuration before moving on to more complex installations with multiple Sensors and Sources.
NSTALL HOST SOFTWARE INDOWS VIPER™ Host Software is provided on a USB thumb drive or is downloaded from the Polhemus website. Run VIPER_Installer.exe to install all of the necessary drivers and software. Review VIPER_RELEASE_NOTES.htm for information about what is contained in the Host Software distribution.
USER MANUAL 3.3 R VIPER™ COMMAND MANAGER Start the VIPER™ Command Manager (VPcmdMgr) application by clicking the icon that was installed with the Host Software. On Windows® 10, this icon will appear in the Start Menu under “Recently Added:” For easy access to the VPcmdMgr icon directly under the Windows®...
USER MANUAL 3.4 VIPER™ COMMAND MANAGER USER INTERFACE OVERVIEW On startup, the VIPER™ Command Manager app (VPcmdMgr) connects automatically to VIPER™ and collects a single frame of P&O data. On the Status Pane at the left, icons for the VIPER™ SEU and connected Sensors and/or Stylus’...
USER MANUAL 3.4.1 ™ P&O ISPLAYING IPER DATA To collect and display a single frame of data, click on in the toolbar or type p. To collect and display continuous streaming data, click on in the toolbar or type c. P&O data is displayed in text format in the Text Pane and graphically by animated avatars in the Graphics Pane.
USER MANUAL 3.4.2 VIPER™ ONFIGURING To configure VIPER™ settings, click on the icon in the Status Pane. The Status Pane changes color and enters Edit Mode. 3.4.2.1 C OMMONLY USED SETTINGS In Edit Mode, the Status Pane displays checkboxes next to the VIPER™ SEU icon and next to icons for each connected Sensor.
USER MANUAL 3.4.2.2 A DVANCED SETTINGS The Advanced Settings controls provide access to all available VIPER™ settings in a single “block” display. Each time the Advanced Settings control is clicked, the tracker is queried to display all of the current settings. Hover the mouse pointer over buttons in the toolbar at the top of the panel to identify the function of each button, also described in the table below: Refresh from device.
USER MANUAL The Block Configuration Panels have several controls to manipulate the display. 1. Click in any field to see reference information about the VIPER™ setting it controls in the description pane at the bottom. 2. Click on the + and – buttons to expand and collapse groups of settings.
If multiple Sources of the same frequency are connected, VIPER™ will not operate. Polhemus offers Sources in a variety of EM frequencies. When VIPER™ powers up, it detects plugged in Sensor and Source components. (Hot swapped Sensors are also detected when plugged in while VIPER™ is running.) Depending on the pattern of connected Sources, VIPER™...
USER MANUAL On a VIPER™ 16 system: Behaves as up to four independent 4-Sensor systems. Two–four Sources are plugged into Source ports 1-4. Sources must each operate at a different EM frequency*. One Source must be plugged into Source port 1. ...
USER MANUAL 3.5.4 USTOM MULTI SOURCE MODE CONFIGURATION For applications in which the standard Single- Dual- and Local-Source mode are not quite right, VIPER™ can be configured to operate in a custom user-selected Multi-Source mode. Multi-Source behavior is defined on a per-Sensor basis by two settings that may be manually configured: SOURCE SELECT defines which Source(s) a Sensor detects for determining P&O.
USER MANUAL 3.6 U VIPER™ SING A STYLUS WITH To use the VIPER™ Stylus as a point digitizer: 1. Set the SEU Stylus Mode setting to Point Mode. Enter Edit Mode by clicking b. Display Advanced SEU configuration settings by clicking Select Stylus Mode→Point.
VIPER™ commands can be applied to the device with the VIPER™ Command Manager or directly via the USB or RS422 I/O channel with a user-developed custom application. For application development, Polhemus offers an open-source Standard C++ conforming to C++14 core language features.
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USER MANUAL Command Actions Scope Section BORESIGHT Get/Set/Reset sensor 4.3.4 TABLE D. P&O COMMANDS Command Actions Scope Section SINGLE PNO Get Only 4.4.3 CONTINUOUS PNO Set/Reset 4.4.4 TABLE E. READ-ONLY COMMANDS Command Actions Scope Section BIT RESULTS Get Only 4.5.1 STATION MAP Get Only 4.5.2...
USER MANUAL 4.2 C ONFIGURATION COMMANDS ERSISTENT 4.2.1 FRAME RATE COMMAND This command sets the update rate of frames per second. The frame rate can be set to 30Hz, 60Hz, 120Hz, or 240Hz for all VIPER™ SEUs. VIPER™ 8 and VIPER™ 16 systems may also be set to output data at 480Hz or 960Hz. In VIPER™...
USER MANUAL 4.2.3 SYNC MODE COMMAND The Sync Mode setting determines how the VIPER™ External Sync hardware works. Internal Sync: A 3.3V sync pulse is output simultaneously with each P&O frame output. The pulse has duration of 10µs and occurs at the beginning of the data collection cycle. External Sync: When the external device applies a ground pulse (minimum duration of 10µs), P&O computation is initiated using sensor data immediately preceding the ground pulse.
USER MANUAL 4.2.5 SEU ID COMMAND This command allows you to program a numeric ID into the SEU. The SEU ID will appear in the SEU ID field of output P&O frames. In VIPER™ Command Manager, SEU ID is configured in the SEU Block Config panel in the Identification group.
USER MANUAL 4.2.7 SOURCE CONFIGURATION COMMAND Source configuration allows the user to configure Position and Orientation for all Sources in the Expanded Tracking Area Mode of operation, detailed in Section 3.5.5. Setting the P&O of each source in this way effectively defines the frame of reference for Sensor P&O that is output by the tracker.
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USER MANUAL Example Scenario: SOURCE CONFIGURATION Your project uses two TX4 Sources placed 6 feet apart. You are tracking a human subject wearing 6 sensors on arms and shoulders. The subject is moving freely between the two sources, which are mounted on tripods 4 feet above the floor.
USER MANUAL 4.2.8 PREDICTION FILTER COMMAND The PREDICTION FILTER command enables and disables the VIPER™ Prediction Filter for Position and/or Orientation tracker data. When enabled, VIPER™ predicts current and future Sensor P&O based on previous P&O data. Prediction time is configurable from 1ms.
VIPER™ employs optional filtering that is designed to control noise (jitter) in the P&O data output. Filters can be applied to position or orientation or both. The FILTER command is applied on a per-Sensor basis. Traditional Polhemus Adaptive Filter The FILTER command establishes the sensitivity, boundary, and transition control parameters for the Traditional adaptive filter that operates on the position and orientation outputs of the VIPER™...
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USER MANUAL TABLE G. ADAPTIVE FILTER PARAMETERS The sensitivity of the filter to dynamic input conditions. Sensitivity is the proportion of new input data to recent average data that is used to update the floating filter parameter. The smaller the value here, the less sensitive the output becomes to changes in new input data, or the heavier the filter becomes.
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USER MANUAL About Polhemus Traditional Adaptive Filters The Traditional filter used by VIPER™ is a single-pole, low-pass filter with an adaptive pole location. The pole location is constrained within user-specified boundary values F-Low and F-High but is continuously self-adaptive between these limits as a function of a user- specified sensitivity parameter F and the sensed input conditions (ambient noise plus rotational rate).
USER MANUAL Note: If the FILTER command is used to set the Enhanced Filter on a non-FT Sensor, VIPER™ responds to the command with a warning and the Traditional Medium Filter is enabled for that Sensor. If the Enhanced Filter was previously enabled and the detected Sensor is not an FT Sensor, the default Traditional Medium filter will be engaged.
USER MANUAL Moving Source Mode: This mode is for dynamic configurations that involve VIPER™ Sources that do move in 3D space during tracking. Moving Source Mode is useful in diverse applications such as: a small size TX1 Source embedded in an ultrasound wand that moves while in use, or ...
USER MANUAL For example, if a live Sensor 1 is connected, Virtual Sensors 2, 3, and 4 could be created using Sensor 1 as the Active Sensor Input. (Figure 21) Note that a live Sensor may be used as Input to “feed” multiple Virtual Sensors at the same time.
USER MANUAL 4.2.14 SOURCE CONFIGURATIONS AND MODES OF OPERATION For more information about these commands, please refer to Section 3.5 “Configuring VIPER™ multi-source modes of operation.” 4.2.14.1 SOURCE SELECT COMMAND Note: SOURCE SELECT is an advanced feature that is applicable only in rare and very specific circumstances.
USER MANUAL Example Scenario: SOURCE SELECT Your project design uses different types of Sensors and Sources simultaneously: 10 Micro Sensors in ports 1-10 and 2 TX1 Sources in source ports 1 and 2 for close-range “micro” tracking 6 FT-Standard sensors in port 11-16 and 2 TX4 Sources in source port 3 and 4 for Expanded Area “macro”...
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USER MANUAL Example Scenario: SENSOR ORIGIN Your project is a multi-player game that uses 16 FT-Sensors and 4 VIPER™ Sources over an expanded tracking area. SOURCE CONFIGURATION command is applied to establish the position and rotation of each source relative to a Common Origin. You want each Sensor to use the expanded tracking area afforded by detecting the EM fields of all the...
USER MANUAL 4.3 C ONFIGURATION COMMANDS ERSISTENT 4.3.1 RS-422 SERIAL PORT CONFIGURATION COMMAND This command programs the baud rate parity settings in the VIPER™ UART for the RS-422 I/O port. Available baud rates: Available Parity settings 38,400 baud None 57,600 baud Even 115,200 baud 230,400 baud...
USER MANUAL Host-side RS-422 settings usually also include Data Bits, Stop Bits and Handshaking/Flow Control parameters. When setting up the Host RS-422 port, use the following additional settings: 8 Data Bits 1 Stop Bit No Handshake/Flow Control 4.3.2 DUAL OUTPUT MODE COMMAND...
USER MANUAL TIP OFFSET is expressed in current tracker position units as configured by the UNITS command. In VIPER™ Command Manager, Tip Offset is configured in the Sensor Block Config panel in the Tip Offset group. Access the Sensor Block Config panel by selecting to the right of a Sensor icon in the Edit...
USER MANUAL 4.4 P&O COMMANDS Position and Orientation (P&O) commands cause VIPER™ to output P&O data either one frame at a time or in a continuous stream. A VIPER™ P&O frame is output via the USB and/or RS-422 connection. Both channels are used if DUAL OUTPUT MODE is enabled (see...
USER MANUAL Right-click the mouse over the title bar in the text pane to select data to be displayed. 4.4.2 P&O LTERNATIVE FRAME WITH ACCELERATION VIPER™ has the ability to output P&O in an alternative data mode that includes Sensor acceleration in X, Y, Z axes and magnitude.
USER MANUAL Acceleration-mode P&O output is specified as an argument to the SINGLE PNO CONTINUOUS PNO commands. In VIPER™ Command Manager, to specify Acceleration-mode, select Motion Menu→Acceleration Output Mode. Subsequent Single- or Continous-P&O output will reflect this selection. 4.4.3 SINGLE PNO COMMAND This command polls VIPER™...
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USER MANUAL In VIPER™ Command Manager: To start and stop continuous P&O data: Click on in the toolbar, Type the c keyboard shortcut anywhere on the app window. VIPER Command Manager displays continuous Standard- or Acceleration-Mode P&O frames based on the Motion menu selection described above.
USER MANUAL 4.5 READ-ONLY COMMANDS 4.5.1 BIT RESULTS COMMAND This command allows the user to read Built-In Test (BIT) results This is a diagnostic command that allows the user to detect and determine the cause of VIPER™ internal system errors. If errors are detected a flag is placed in P&O output frame header. The BIT RESULTS command can be used to gather more information if this flag is output.
USER MANUAL 4.5.4 WHO AM I COMMAND This command returns basic identification and firmware version of VIPER™ system. In VIPER™ Command Manager, to display VIPER™ Who Am I information, click on the VIPER™ SEU icon in the Status Pane. Scope: SEU, Get Only 4.5.5 SENSOR WHO AM I COMMAND...
USER MANUAL 4.5.6 SOURCE WHO AM I COMMAND This command retrieves a Source serial number. In VIPER™ Command Manager, to display VIPER™ Who Am I information, click on the VIPER™ SEU icon in the Status Pane. Then click on the Sources button. Scope: Source, Get Only URM18PH392 Rev A.
USER MANUAL 4.6 EXECUTIVE COMMANDS 4.6.1 PERSIST COMMAND This command saves the current configuration settings to non-volatile FLASH. When VIPER™ reboots, the current settings persist. Only configuration settings marked “Persistent” can be saved. To restore VIPER™ to Factory Default Configuration, apply the BLOCK CONFIG RESET command prior to PERSIST. In VIPER™...
USER MANUAL 4.6.3 ENABLE DISTORTION MAP COMMAND This command will enable or disable a Distortion map if one is installed. Note: As of initial release, user-installed maps are not yet functional. URM18PH392 Rev A. May 2020 Page 63 of 86...
USER MANUAL 5. PRECAUTIONS 1. Using the VIPER™ Tracker in the vicinity of conductive metals may lead to errors in the accuracy of this product. The errors are caused by eddy current distortion. VIPER™ contains eddy current mitigation but there will still be some accuracy degradation in heavily distorted environments. 2.
Try a different Sensor to see if SENSOR Error A problem with a Sensor has been detected. the error is cleared. Contact Polhemus Technical Support. Move Sensor to a different port SENSOR PORT Error A problem with an SEU Sensor PORT has been detected.
USER MANUAL APPENDIX A. TERMS & ACRONYMS Alignment Obtaining congruence between the axes of the VIPER™ system and the axes of the application. The process whereby the VIPER™ system coordinate reference is brought into coincidence, either physically or mathematically, with other coordinates of the environment.
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Z (vertical) axis, where an increase in the angle is clockwise when viewed in the positive direction along this axis. Note, in Polhemus’ default frame of reference, the +Z axis points down, with +X pointing forward and +Y pointing to the right. The term “yaw”...
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Note, in Polhemus’ default frame of reference, the +Y axis points to the right, with +X pointing forward and +Z pointing down. The term “pitch” is often substituted for azimuth, especially in the context of flight.
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National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) standards and that any products offered by that manufacturer will match those NIST-maintained measurement standards. With NIST traceable calibration, Polhemus’ calibration fixturing has an unbroken chain of measurements that leads back to NIST maintained standards.
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USER MANUAL The Euler angle coordinates that are output by VIPER™ as one measure of Sensor orientation are graphically defined in the figure below. Here, the x, y, z and X, Y, Z tri-axis arrays represent independent, three-dimensional orthogonal coordinate frames. The x, y, z triad represents the Sensor frame in its current orientation state.
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Note, in Polhemus’ default frame of reference, the +X axis points forward, with +Y pointing to the right and +Z pointing down.
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USER MANUAL Software Development Kit; software development toolset available for VIPER™-based trackers, consisting of programming libraries, help files, and sample code. SDK is sometimes referred to as “API,” although API refers specifically to the programming libraries used to interface with the instrument. System Electronics Unit.
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USER MANUAL Same as azimuth. Page 74 of 86 URM18PH392 Rev A. May 2020...
USER MANUAL APPENDIX B. SOURCE HEMISPHERES If the application requires the Sensor(s) to move back and forth to different sides of the Source, Hemisphere Tracking Auto-Hemisphere must be enabled with the HEMISPHERE command. When the VIPER™ system is started, Sensors track by detecting the presence of the electromagnetic (EM) field produced by one or more Sources in the tracking area.
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USER MANUAL Once correct hemisphere is established, it is usually a good idea to enable Hemisphere Tracking. When Hemisphere Tracking is enabled, VIPER™ automatically maintains correct hemisphere even if the Sensor is passed to the opposite side of the Source. Page 76 of 86 URM18PH392 Rev A.
USER MANUAL APPENDIX C. SENSOR AND SOURCE DIMENSIONS FIGURE 23. OUTLINE DIMENSIONS (APPROX.), VIPER™ FT-STANDARD SENSOR URM18PH392 Rev A. May 2020 Page 77 of 86...
Polhemus warrants that the Product shall be free from defects in material and workmanship for a period of two years from the date of Polhemus’ delivery to the Buyer, or two years and 30 days from the date Polhemus shipped Product to an authorized reseller, whichever occurs first, with the exception of all Sensors which have a warranty period of one year against material defects.
(for which you or your shipper would be liable). If your system is still under warranty, Polhemus will repair it free of charge according to the provisions of the warranty as stated in Appendix D of this document. The proper return address is:...
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