GSA Advanced Golf Simulators: CX Stereo Camera Setup

Please note:

Regular stereo systems are now EOL (End of Life)

and are replaced with the new VisTrak system.

Click above image to see the VisTrak systems

VisTrak IR Stereo LS Installation

Technical Support

Email and remote access support is available for all original purchasers of GSA Golf systems.

For all non original purchasers (i.e. purchasers of used GSA Golf systems) remote access support can be purchased separately.

Click above images for more information.

VisTrak IR installation overview

1. Unpacking the boxes
2. Mounting and wiring the 2 camera systems
3. Installing the system software
4. Installing the game software
5. Checking and testing the stereo cameras\
6 Checking and testing the VisTrak camera
7. Checking and testing the line scan camera
8. Final Ball play checks

1. Unpacking the boxes

The VisTrak IR Stereo consists of two IR LED panel units with built in power supplies

1. The stereo camera panel (60" X 8")

with 2 separate USB Cat converters and Cat 5 cables plus projector mount hardware

2. The VisTrak camera panel (42" X 8")

with USB3 cables (30ft) plus projector mount hardware

The Lens is packaged separately and has to be screwed into the VisTrak camera after unpacking.

On the stereo unit, connect the GPIO and USB cables as shown above

2. Mounting and wiring the 2 camera panels

Both units feature projector mounts

The end piece is packaged separately and has to be mounted to the ball joint on the mount frame using the two wing screws.

Before doing this though, we recommend first mounting the projector end piece to the ceiling where the units are to be mounted.

The above image shows where the two panels should be mounted

Non reflective flooring

Note that non-relective flooring is required for the stereo cameras to function

Stereo camera wiring

The stereo CX Surround cameras feature two USB to Cat cable converters.

Connect the 2 supplied CAT5 cables to the CAT adapter Receivers

and run the CAT cables down to the PC.

Connect the other ends of the CAT 5 cables to the CAT adapter transmitters

and connect the adapter to the PC ports using the supplied USB CAT adapter cables.

Which USB ports on the PC do I use?

Connect one of the Transmitters to a USB 2 or 3 port on the front of the PC and the other to a USB 2 port on the back of the PC

Always connect the VisTrak camera to a USB 3 port

Important ! USB 3 only for the VisTrak camera

The VisTrak camera is a USB 3 camera and must be connected to a USB 3 port on your PC.

You can identify a USB 3 port by the SS symbol next to the port

The VisTrak hi-speed camera will require a PC that is capable of running hi-speed cameras.

While most good desktop gaming PCs featuring i5 or i7 CPUs can do this, laptops are not suitable.

3. Installing the system software

Go to the "Installing the software" section on the VisTrak Installation page for software installation instructions and download links

Installing the game software

ProX Driving Range

Download your free ProX Driving Range by clicking on the above image.

GSA Golf Game software download

Note: If you encounter a windows error message stating that it could not find d3dx9_30.dll when starting GSA Golf,

download and copy the d3dx9_30.dll to your windows\SysWOW64 folder.

Download here d3dx9_30.dll

E6 Connect download

Select GSA Golf in the Settings / Simulator options

Select E6 CONNECT in the GSA Golf Control Panel's main window

4. Checking and testing the cameras

Checking that the PC detects the cameras

You can use the FLIR FlyCapture2 app to check that all the cameras are detected by the PC

The app is located in the

C:\Program Files (x86)\Point Grey Research\FlyCap2 Viewer\bin folder

and is called Point Grey FlyCap2

You should see that the PC detects 3 cameras as shown above. i.e. one USB3 camera and two USB 2 cameras.

VisTrak Stereo Control Panel (CP) instructions.

All the cameras are controlled by the GSA Golf Control Panel

When you start the Control Panel and the cameras are connected to the PC, you should see the message "3 cameras running" on the main screen.

CX Surround and Stereo setup instructions

If you have a CX Surround or Stereo system without a VisTrak camera

select CX2 and CX Stereoscopic in the CP's setup window .

System Setup

Select VisTrak Stereo in this case

Select "VisTrak Stereo" in the CP's setup window if you have a VisTrak Stereo or VisTrak IR stereo system.

When all 3 cameras (VisTrak camera plus H and V cam cameras) are connected to the PC

ensure that you see the "Cameras 1,2,3 Running" message displayed in the CP's main panel.

Camera assignments

In the cameras panel, you should see the left camera as camera 1,

the right camera as camera 2,

and the VisTrak camera (VT cam) as camera 3.

If you see this error message flashing when first starting the CP,

then the camera assignments are incorrect.

If you see a warning message like the above, the cameras have to be re-assigned as described in the error message.

Note: when re-assigning cameras, ensure that the "Fixed Assigns" option is OFF.

When the assingments are correct, switch the "Fixed Assigns" option back ON.

Follow the above instructions to re-assign the cameras to their correct positions.

Auto camera assignments

This new feature eliminates the need to manually assign the cameras.

Simply switch on the Auto Camera Assigns option and restart the CP.

If the camera assignments aren't correct, then the CP may hang and just show a white screen when started.

To fix:

1. unplug all cameras from the PC.

2. restart the CP and switch the "Fixed Assigns" option OFF.

3. shut the CP down.

4. plug the cameras back into the PC and restart the CP.

5. Check that assignments are correct.

If it's a 2 camera system, then camera 1 is the Vcam camera and 2 is the VisTrak camera.

If it's a 3 camera system, then camera 1 is the Vcam camera, camera 2 the Hcam camera and 3 is the VisTrak camera.

If re-assigning cameras then the "Fixed Assigns" should be switched back ON again and the CP re-started

Standard setup settings

5. Checking and testing the VisTrak camera

Go to the VisTrak Installtion page to see how to install and check the VisTrak Camera

6. Checking and testing the line scan camera

SX Line scan camera

Note: This section is only for VisTrak Stereo LS systems

The regular VisTrak Stereo does not use a Line Scan camera

The CX Surround features a built-in Line Scan camera that is used to trigger the stereo cameras as the ball passes through its FOV.

The VisTrak Stereo system also includes an optional separate Line Scan camera.

The following Line Scan camera instructions apply to both the CX Surround, VisTrak Surround and the VisTrak Stereo.

With the VisTrak Stereo system, the SX Line Scan camera is mounted inbetween the two stereo cameras,

facing down with the marking "Screen" on the camera indicating in which direction the camera is mounted.

Line scan camera sensitivity

The Line Scan camera features a remote sensitivity control.

The sensitivity of the Line Scan camera has to be set so that both rolling balls on the floor as well as flying balls that pass under it

are detected and a trigger signal is sent to the stereo cameras.

A bright green LED light on the Line Scan camera will turn ON for a few seconds when it detects a ball passing under it.

The SX line scan camera's sensitivity control is attached to the SX with a 12ft long cable.

Run the cable from the SX cam along the ceiling and a quarter-way down one of the side walls for easy access.

When adjusting the SX cam's sensitivity, it is important that you not stand under or too near the camera

as then your body will reflect light back into the camera.

Please note that the sensitivity control for the SX line scan camera is a 10 turn potentiometer !

i.e. you have to turn the dial 10 turns from one end to the other end.

To set the sensitivity of the Line Scan camera
ensure that the the overhead lamp(s) are on, SX camera powered up and facing down onto the flooring without any white objects or golf balls in the FOV ,
turn the 10 turn sensitivity dial on the remote control fully to the right(clockwise) and then to the left (anti- clockwise) until the green LED lights up.
Then turn the dial slightly back right again until the green LED just goes off.
When making the adjustments ensure that you and your arm are not in FOV of the camera otherwise light will be reflected back into the camera.
Test operation by putting or rolling a golf ball on the ground under the camera. You should see that the green LED goes on for a short while.
Connect the supplied RCA trigger cables to the SX camera and the full frame cameras that you want to trigger. This will usually be the V and H cams.
Check that every time a ball is struck towards the screen, the green LED lights up on the SX line scan camera
(ie when a bright object like a golf ball is passed under the SX camera) that you get new camera images in the control panel's camera window.
Note that the underlying carpet surface has to be dark and low reflective (i.e. either the supplied black carpet or the olive green grass turf carpeting has to be used under the camera)
If you find that the you still can't set the sensitivity high enough to pick up putts and you are using the supplied IR lamp, try lowering the mounted height of the
line scan camera. Note that the max recommended mounting height is 9ft.
Line scan camera lens focus
Note that the bright green trigger light does not always stay on when a ball or object is in the camera's FOV.

The green LED light usually just stays on for about 2 seconds and then automatically switches off

no matter if a ball or object is under the camera or not.

The green LED trigger light is powered by the camera trigger signal and in order for it to re-trigger

the object (e.g. a ball or person) has to first go out of the FOV and back in again.
In order that the line scan camera detects low shots and rolling ball putts, it is essential that the SX camera lens be focused.
Our SX line scan cameras are tested for low shot detection before shipping but - depending on your mounted height - may require some focus adjustment
To adjust the focus, use the lens dial at the end of the lens.
Set first to its furthest anit-clockwise position (far) and putt a ball down the center line of the enclosure - i.e. so that the ball rolls directly under the camera.
Check to see that the bright green LED light lights up as the ball rolls under the camera.
If not, then rotate the lens focus dial a half turn clockwise and repeat the putt ball test to see if the green LED them lights up.
Repeat this step until it detects the putted rolling ball
Notes:
1. Ensure that the lens aperture dial (dial nearest the case base) is in the fully open position
2. Ensure that the IR LED lamp mounted next to the SX camera is ON and pointing straight down.
The 12 IR LEDs in the IR lamp will glow dark red when the IR lamp is ON
Note that the IR lamp has a photocell on the side of the case.
This photocell will turn the IR lamp OFF if there's too much ambient light in the room (i.e. day light from an open window).
If you don't see that the IR LEDs glow dark red then stick a piece of electrical - or similar - tape over the photocell.
During line scan camera testing and setup, you may find it helpful to use the "Notify sound on new frame capture" option
(bottom left side of the setup window)
When ON, this feature will sound an audible beep everytime a trigger signal is sent from the line scan camera.
This saves you from always having to look up at the SX camera to see if the green LED lights up when a ball is played.

Line scan camera setup problem solving

By far the most common issue with the line scan camera setup is the ability to set the camera's sensitivity high enough to
detect low flying or rolling balls with putts.
The cause of this problem is light from the overhead lamps reflecting back into the camera from the underlying surface.
If you are experiencing this problem then follow these recommendations:
1. If using a halogen lamp next to the line scan camera, replace this with a LED IR illuminator similar to the above shown examples.
Note: all new line scan cameras are now being shipped with these.
Such IR illuminators are available on Amazon for around $ 75
2. Ensure the underlying surface is a dark non-reflective material or carpet.
A recommended carpet is : Beaullieu of America - Type: Dayside Ebony, Product 6670-890 which is available at your local Home Depot
store at around $4.00 a yard.
3. Ensure that not too much ambient light is getting on the underlying surface from either other overhead lamps or from other sources.
To test for this, switch off all other overhead lamps until you have the line scan camera triggering with rolling balls.
4. While testing and setting up the line scan camera it is not necessary to have any other cameras running or any software running.
Just putt a ball under it and check to see that the LED on the side of the camera lights up for a second or two every time.
5. Ensure that the lens focus is turned fully to the right (i.e. clockwise) so that it is in the "Far" position
Focus adjustment may still be required though.
Turn focus dial in from the "far" position in 1/4 turns left while testing each time to see that the line scan camera's green light turns on with a
rolling ball directly under the camera.

6. Ensure that the mounting height of the LS camera is not greater than 9 ft

Use mount extensions to reduce the height of the line scan camera if your ceiling height is higher

7. Stereo Camera Trigger delays

Note: This section is only for VisTrak Stereo systems not using a Line Scan trigger camera

In order that the stereo cameras see the ball ahead of the ball striking position on the mat when not using a line scan trigger camera,

a camera trigger delay has to be set.

There are two methods of doing this:

1. Set a fixed trigger delay in the stereo cameras themselves

2. Set a variable ball speed depedant trigger delay from the VisTrak camera

Stereo camera fixed trigger delays

In the stereo camera windows of the CP, set the trigger delay for both cameras

Variable Ball speed Dependant trigger delays

Switch on the SpeedTrigger for Variable Trigger delays from the Setup window.

Adjust the "Capture Distance" with the up/down arrow keys when the mouse is over the "Use SpeedTrigger" button.

The capture distance is where the Vcam or Stereo cameras will be triggered from the ball strike position so that the captured ball images

- no matter what speed they are traveling - will always be close to this distance.

8. Final Ball play checks

8. VisTrak / Stereo camera System Testing

We recommend testing the Stereo cameras and the VisTrak camera separately to start with.

i.e. First connect just the VisTrak camera to the PC and select "VisTrak Eagle" in the CP's Setup panel.

Confirm that the VisTrak camera functions correctly and is detecting all shots so that you are able to play a round of golf with it.

Then connect just the Stereo cameras (without the VisTrak camera) to the PC and select "CX2 Stereo" in the Setup panel of the CP.

Likewise, confirm that the Stereo cameras are functioning correctly and are detecting all shots so that you are able to play a round of golf with it.

The above section to be continued...

GSA Golf system minimum PC requirements

Intel i5 or above Processor

8GB RAM Nvidia 1070 Graphics Card or equivalent

(Dedicated GPU with DirectX 11 Support)

25GB of Hard Drive Space

Windows 10 (Required)

Internet Connection (Required)

When using VisTrak systems - Native USB3 ports (Required)

( i.e. no add-on PCie USB3 adapters for PCs that don't come with USB 3 ports as standard )

Non reflective flooring

Note that non-relective flooring is required for the stereo cameras to function

The above image shows a ball trace being well detected from the stereo cameras with the use of non-reflective flooring.

It is essential that the flooring is non-reflective!

And that there are no reflective objects in the valid field view of the cameras.

A recommended carpet is : Beaullieu of America - Type: Dayside Ebony, Product 6670-890 which is available at your local Home Depot store at around $4.00 a ft 6ft wide.

This carpet is also very good for lining the inside of your enclosure. Especially for the wall opposite the vertical camera.

You do not have to carpet the complete enclosure: only the part in the valid field of view of the camera.

VisTrak Stereo separate camera mounting

CX Surround / CX Stereo cameras

The CX Surround and CX Stereo systems use two USB 2.0 cameras plus a line scan trigger camera

CX Surround / CX Stereo cameras with VisTrak

When used with the VisTrak camera, three cameras are used: Two USB 2.0 cameras and one USB 3.0 camera.

Stereo camera wiring

Individual stereo camera mounting

The two cameras ( V and H cams) are mounted around 4 to 6 ft ahead of the player's normal ball striking position and aproximately 7 to 8ft apart - centered.

Note that the cameras are mounted sideways in order to increase the left and right FOV.

Aiming the cameras to the center line

Place a white strip and a ball to one side close to the far end (the end nearest the screen) on the center line of the floor between the two cameras.

Starting with camera 1, select video stream mode and aim the camera so that the white strip appears as close as possible to the center of the image.

There are vertical and horizontal center lines visible in the image to help with this.

Do the same for camera 2.

Camera orientation

The two cameras should have the same orientation and show the same - just from a different angle

i.e. if you place a ball next to a white paper slip

and the left camera shows the ball to the left side of the white strip, then the right camera should show the ball to the left side of the strip too.

If one camera show the ball to the right, then use the "X reversed" option in one of the cameras to flip the image horizontally.

Also note that the direction of the play is always from bottom to top of the frame.

Thus ensure that the ball appears at the top of the line in the frames.

If not, then you can use the "Y Reversed" option to flip the image vertically or simply rotate the camera on its mount 180 degrees.

If one camera (or both cameras) show the white strip pointing horizontally, then the camera has to be rotated 90 degrees on its mount.

This is because pixel chip in the camera is rectangular and not square so the image cannot be rotated

VisTrak IR Stereo mounting

The new CX Surround case is shipped in 2 x 48" long panels to make the full width of 86" (7ft 2").

BTW: Foresights Sports GC Hawk is around 7.6ft in width so we're about the same here.

CX Surround assembly

There are a few cables that have to be connected between the two panels.

All connections are color coded

VisTrak problem solving.

Click the below button to find solutions to common VisTrak user issues

The Control Panel settings in both the left and right cameras should be similar to the above settings

The above screen shots are from customer Kevin showing the left and right camera images of a full shot using the stereo setup.

Note that there are two green cross hairs at either end of the ball trace and that the background within the blue scan zone border lines appears dark.

It is essential that the underlying floor surface be a dark and non-reflecting surface (carpet or turf)

If the turf carpet is too bright or reflective, then the IR Light pointing down on it will reflect back into the camera

If your carpet appears bright with a camera gain of 15db and a shutter speed of 10,000 micro-seconds

then you will have to replace or cover up the scan zone area under the cameras with a non-reflective carpet like the above carpet from Home-Depot.

Two factors are required to measure the vertical launch angle of the ball: Distance and Height.

The user defined launch position of the ball and the end of the ball trace (P1) are used to determine the distance.

This distance is initially measured in pixels and thus has to be converted into a real world distance using the "Scaling factor".

Adjusting the scaling factor will thus directly effect the Vertical Launch angle calculation.

The height of the ball is determined by the height values for a certain stereo disparity value of Point 1 of the ball trace in the Stereo Calibration table.

The Length of the ball trace determines the distance the ball has traveled and the camera exposure shutter speed is the time.

The stereo calibration table includes the scaling factors for all trace point disparities.

Ball speed can be adjusted with the speed controls (switch Adjust speeds /carry distances on in the Vcam window)

The following example shows how to adjust the stereo calibration table to line up with the mounted camera height.

The above example image shows that Point 1 and 2 of the ball trace of a ball at floor level has a disparity of around 36.

The calibration table, however, has height entry levels of 10 to 20 cm off the ground for this disparity range.

To adjust the calibration table so that the disparity level of 36 corresponds to a ball height of 0 cm,

simply select the "Global Disparity Adjust" and - using the keyboard ctrl/ up arrow key - increase the disparity levels of all entries until the Row 1 disparity entry is 36.

Ball height is then correctly calculated to be 0 cm off the ground and all other entries are adjusted to match.

1. Disparity - the difference between the cameras x position of the object at a particular height off ground
2. Line Len PX - the length of the line or strip measured in pixels
3. The Line Len measured in cm - this should always be 20cm i.e. the length of the white strip
4. Scale - the scaling factor used to convert the LineLen pixel value to 20 cm
5. Height - The real height off ground that corresponds to the disparity value.

Why edit the table?

e.g. in the above image the disparity of a white card placed at a height of 100 cm is 517 for P1

(P1 is the upper end point of the ball trace. P2 is the lower end point of the ball trace.

These two points are shown by the two green cross hairs on either end of the ball trace)

In this example, the height for a disparity of 517 is calculated to be 107.78.

If, for example, the white card that represents the ball trace was placed at a height of 100 cm off the ground and not 107 cm,

then you would adjust the current disparity of 468 for a height of 100cm to 517.

The scaling factor - used to convert trace lengths measured in pixels to real distances in cm - can also be adjusted.

Using this method, you can verify and adjust values for the complete 19 row table.

Note that you have to place your white card at the desired height (0 to 190 cm) and hit the

Soft Trigger in both left and right cameras to grab new frames for every height you are checking.

There's now a global table disparity adjustment option. When ON, all disparity values are adjusted at one time using the up/down arrow keys while holding the ctrl key down.

The adjustments will effect the LA.

Adjusting ball path

You can adjust the measured ball path with the "Stereo Path Shift" factor and the R/L path factors without having to re-calibrate the cameras.

Use the Right / Left path factors to adjust measured ball path separately.

Adjusting stereo ball speed

Open the "carry Factors" table to view all ball speed adjustments for a particular club.

Adjusting stereo ball launch angle

Hey Martin and Keith, I just wanted to say thanks and I am in love!!! I believe I have made almost all of my adjustments and the PX5 is awesome! Keith kept telling me to use IBS and I finally switched over tonight.... WOW! The images and reads are great. Attached is two 6 iron pics to show my IBS images. I played a full round tonight. No reads were at a minimum. I had one putt, one tee shot (which I launched from CP), but then I did have to close TGC and GSA and reopen when I was trying to take a half wedge shot that wasn't reading after multiple attempts. After the restart I believe I had one more no read. Keith- I started Q school tonight. My TGC username is Swiggs. It looks like you check on some of the scoring so I wanted to let you know I had one rewind near the very beginning. I hit my hybrid (on 5 wood setting) and it travelled 45 yards too far. I went into the CP and noticed spin was at 7000 and speed was 117%. I brought down to 100% and 3000ish spin and used the CP to relaunch after. ( I don't want to be the new guy who cheats and still gets last place! ha!)

Kevin

11/23/18

Hey Martin !
I have my cameras officially set up 13.5 feet apart and it is awesome! I did leave the IRs in the original spots about 3 feet apart. Launch angles are much more accurate. Only a small difference between LA and Raw LA. I used an online right angle calculator and the only thing I did was take it down 1* from what LA was reading.
I did have to slow my shutter speed to 7100. And I am now making small adjustments because every once in a while my wedge will enter the FOV again (which I had perfected in 5.5 foot setup.) So just a few small adjustments angling my line scan a hair further back and sliding the FOV a tiny bit.
My BIG breakthrough was with the PX mat! I decided since the shaft’s shadow was picking up and always reading wide open to put my ball just off center of tee holder and also angle my halogen light towards me. This way the shadow of the shaft never is able to be sensed no matter how much shaft lean.
So my report is I am loving it!!! Feels even more accurate. Club readings, ball readings, putting have all been awesome as of my initial few hours with the new setup.

Kevin

01/28/19
Pros and Cons of Stereoscopic vs H cam V cam setups
- Stereoscopic Pros
- 1. Increased ball speed detection accuracy
- Unless calibrated correctly , the V an H cam setup is prone to ball speed measurement errors and inconsistencies when
- balls are hit left or right and at varying launch angles
- With the stereoscopic setup, measured ball speed is consistent and accurate no matter in what direction the ball is
- going in (left or right) and at what launch angle.
- Note that V and H cam calibration is quite a long and involved process compared to the simple 12 or so step stereo calibration process.
- 2. Both cameras and lighting are mounted out of the way on the ceiling
- The V and H cam setups have additional lighting and a camera mounted at floor level which can be inconvenient
- 3. No light ghosting issues
- With the stereoscopic setup the lighting is not in view of the cameras so there are no light ghosting issues.
- Whereas lighting in the V an H cam setup is both on the floor and ceiling - as are the cameras - and thus ghosting light can get into the camera lenses
- and cause big problems with the image processing
- Stereoscopic Cons
- 1. Camera images of the ball make no sense to the viewer
- Unlike the V and H cam setups where the user can easily see the launch angle and path of the ball,
- the ball images in a stereoscopic system show no direct relationship to LA and path to the average user.
Related Tech help links

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Email: martin@gsagolf.com