PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation

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PlayStation Move, turntable used to track the Earth's rotation
By Joseph L. Flatley  posted Feb 21st 2011 at 2:50PM



The above pictured contraption, called Copernitron, features a PlayStation Move controller, a turntable, and a homebrew Helmholtz coil (you know, for canceling out interference caused by our planet's magnetic field).

By sending data to a Linux PC via Bluetooth, this bad boy will measure the Earth's rotation, find geographic north, and determine altitude.

Apparently, this is achieved by measuring the controller's subtle movements as it spins around at 45 RPM. And while the PS Move gyros are much more accurate than those of any other controller on the market, they're not too accurate: if they were, the designer points out, "ITAR might classify them as missile components. That's why we can't have nice motion tracking." See it in action after the break.

http://www.engadget.com/2011/02/21/playstation-move-turntable-used-to-track-the-earths-rotation/

source: PABR.org

http://www.pabr.org/copernitron/copernitron.en.html