Oculus Rift DK2 virtual reality headset and development kit started to ship in summer 2014. The DK2 is kind of VR headset that is connected to a more powerful computer via USB and HDMI, includes hardware for positional tracking, a 5″ display ,and two lenses for each eye.
Since then the company has been purchased by Facebook, and they’ve now decided to make the headset fully open source hardware.
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Exploded view of Oculus Rift DK2
The release includes schematics, board layout, mechanical CAD, artwork, and specifications under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license, as well as firmware under “BSD+PATENT” licenses which you’ll all find on Github.
The release is divided into four main folders:
– Documentation with high-level specifications for the DK2 headset, sensor, and firmware.
– Cable with schematics and high level specifications for the cables. Custom assembly that would be hard to recreate from source. Allegedly the most complex part of the design.
– Sensor with electrical and mechanical CAD for the positional tracking sensor. Sadly the MCU firmware for this part has not been released, as it is not redistributable.
– Headset with mainboard firmware, electrical and mechanical CAD for the headset, as well as artwork for the packaging.
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A Galaxy Note 3 AMOLED display was used for the headset, and an STMicro STM32 microcontroller handles inertial sensor data, and manages microsecond-precision timestamping for all part of the system.
Normally, such OSHW release would enable a willing individual to reproduce the kit him-/herself, but the company explains that some of the components of the kit are very hard to impossible to source today.
Source: CNXSoft