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Wireless sensor bar?!?!
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trigga71
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26. November 2006 @ 16:42 |
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i have been reading on how to make a wireless sensor bar for the wii. If all the wii is doing is powering the bar why not just use externel power to power the bar that came with the wii unit, No reason to reinvent the wheel (sensor bar). So does any body know how much power the wii sends to the sensor bar?
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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MDSP
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27. November 2006 @ 04:44 |
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i doubt the sensor bar is only getting power from wii... I believe there is also communication between sensor and wii... it doesnt make sense if it doesn't have communication... how can your wii remote communicate with the console?
peace
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trigga71
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27. November 2006 @ 07:03 |
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the wii remote is bluetooth to the wii console. here is a link to the video, he also has a web sight.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=hdxJt9UNqxE
The wii sensor bar ONLY gets power from the wii console. i have also used the two candle trick (just to make sure it would work with my projector) and worked great.
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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MDSP
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27. November 2006 @ 08:00 |
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oh cool... see i learned somethin today... soo how much voltage does work at and how much current does it draw??... i will do it on mine... oh yeah whats the candle trick??
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MHguitar
Junior Member
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27. November 2006 @ 08:24 |
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I understand the remotes are wireless. But what's the point of the sensor bar then if its not communicating with anything. I watched the video but I am still not sure what the sensor bar is there for and how it is accomplishing it
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Senior Member
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27. November 2006 @ 09:30 |
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It's a beacon for the remote, sending out two null signals that the remote can use to monitor it's direction. By recognizing two infrared points (The IR bar, or in this case, the candles which are also horizontally equal to eachother) the remote can tell it's position in degrees (Rotation) which can add to a lot of games(Trauma Center uses it in a very interesting and unexpected way about halfway through the game.)
If you sit in the main menu of the Wii, you'll notice that you can rotate the controller in your hand (Clockwise or counter) and the cursor on screen will rotate accordingly. It is because of the IR sensor bar(Or candles) that the wiimote can tell this.
Now, if someone (probably a third party hardware manufacturer) will just come up with a sensor bar that is either battery powered, electrical outlet powered, or otherwise; then they might have an interesting product. But in all reality though; I will say that the cord is more than plenty long enough for most users; and becuase you generally don't need to move the sensor bar; there really isn't much need for a portable or wireless one, any more than we need wireless hookups to our television set. It's just not a high demand need.
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
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27. November 2006 @ 10:56 |
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all you need is two candles ( mine were about 2 1/2 ft apart for my projector) and light them have lights off ( as dark as possible) and play. it will take the place of your sensor bar. i just need to know how much power the sensor bar puts out. and how much power will run teh sensor bar itself.
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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Senior Member
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27. November 2006 @ 11:06 |
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Do you have a voltage meter? You could always just test it, it'd only take a couple minutes...
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
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27. November 2006 @ 13:21 |
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yep just found my volt meter. i should know some thing in a few
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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trigga71
Member
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27. November 2006 @ 14:14 |
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yep just found my volt meter. i should know some thing in a few
EDIT: Look like 2 volts (1.9XX is what i got) does that sound or match anyone else readings?
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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Senior Member
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27. November 2006 @ 14:48 |
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That sounds about right for something emitting one solid signal continuosly, it's 1 1/3 AA battery, which would make good sense for what it's doing.
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
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27. November 2006 @ 15:28 |
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well i opend the bar (that was a project in itself) from the looks of it i need to take an other reading as i tested the wrong points.
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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Senior Member
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27. November 2006 @ 15:30 |
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...Good times.
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
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27. November 2006 @ 15:46 |
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ok looks like this one is a good reading. I got 12 V. I will solder a lead off of it tomorrow to hook up a wall power adapter to it and start it a 9v and go from there.
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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Senior Member
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28. November 2006 @ 12:23 |
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Now, this I'm fascinated with. It should be easy to just wire up an adapter; I would expect that third party companies like Datel and Mad Catz will be doing the same thing shortly. But if you can make one by going a little Radio Shack, why not?
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
Member
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28. November 2006 @ 13:20 |
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well i just got home and tried it. It works just as planed. Im useing a wall adapter and right now its set at 4.5V (i tried 3v but its just too low). I will test and use it at 4.5V till i run into a problem. Ill post pics of the finished product (looks just like the one it came withthe Wii cept for the wire being red/black).
You correct, all you need is an ajustable wall adapter and to solder +/+ -/-.
Also where you need to solder are nice points to solder to so its not too hard. Also i replaced the screws that were in it to Phillips heads
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 28. November 2006 @ 13:23
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Senior Member
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28. November 2006 @ 13:39 |
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Nice, and I am assuming it doesn't look too shoddy either, because from the sound of it, you know what you're doing.
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
Member
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28. November 2006 @ 14:35 |
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yeah, i think its looks good. I wish the 9v adapter i got had about 3in more of wire, then the project would have already been done. But now i have to tie into the 9v adapter with more wire. But like i said it looks original but instead of a gray wire coming out of it, its black and red.
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
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Senior Member
1 product review
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28. November 2006 @ 20:29 |
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Smart!
P.S whats wrong with it stock when you are going to plug it in anyways into something making it still wired??
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MHguitar
Junior Member
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29. November 2006 @ 08:38 |
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Because now you can have the Wii console somewhere else. I have a plasma that hangs on the wall with the AV cables permananetly in my walls(I can't change it now) so I need a solution for the sensor bar since my Wii will be tucked away in a cabinet.
Personally I would like to see someone come up with a clean option to run the sensor bar off batteries and have the pack attached to the bar with no wires. I am not an electronics guy but I may try it with another sensor par
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trigga71
Member
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29. November 2006 @ 13:48 |
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well i got it done. The only thing is 4.5V is weak (if the bar really uses the 12V from the reading i got thats less than half) my seating is about 8 feet away from my screen and the wii remote starts to flicker/cut out. So 6V may be what is needed (ill test). There is room for AAA (maybe AA) inside the sensor bar. But it will depend on how much voltage you need for your range and how long the batterys last. My 9V adapter could be put inside of the sensor bar but the 9V battery may be too big to fit inside. pretty much from the end of the shiny black to the beginning of the other is all empty except for power and ground feeding the other set of IR LEDs. So you could power each set individually to get rid of the middle wiring and make room for more batterys.
My 9V adapter looks (at best) OK, So i may just hard wire my wall power adapter to the sensor bar.
EDIT: i just went to 6V on my wall adapter and got about 3 more feet. Also i just read on nintendo.com that its recommended thatr the distance from the sensor bar to the wii remote is 3-10 feet. So now at my seating (8ft) it seems to do better, This is just from using it in the menu but didnt see any flickering/cutting out. the next setting on my adapter is 7.5V so if 6V dont cut it i will go to that.
9V adapter
Cord
Cord run in Sensor Bar
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 29. November 2006 @ 16:08
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silver95
Member
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29. November 2006 @ 14:39 |
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Personally, I'd love to see a monitor or something with the LED's mounted right in the casing. Unfortunately, that'd be a great way to void your warranty and it'd be different for each model.
Now, if Nintendo wanted to come out with an all-in-one system that has the Wii built into an LCD monitor(that you can actually plug into your computer to use as a REAL, high quality monitor), I'd love to buy one of those. 20" widescreen Wii Play LCD or something.
Too bad I already own a Wii and don't want to go through all the hassle of having to get all my data transferred over to a whole new system. I'm stuck with white. :(
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Senior Member
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30. November 2006 @ 08:11 |
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I like the sensor bar pics so far. Some shrink wire cover probably wouldn't be a bad idea once you've got your final performance results. That way it looks really slick. Perhaps a switch for the battery as well, so you can just turn it off/on, rather than disconnecting it every time, you could pick one up at radio shack, and install it into the sensor bar.
...Just a thought.
"Its not stupid, its advanced!" - The Almighty Tallest, Invader Zim |
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trigga71
Member
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30. November 2006 @ 09:12 |
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yes, the switch would be nice, as pluging and unpluging is a pain already. I think the final product will have an on/off switch and the wall power adapter hardwired
EDIT: I did some reading and looks like most people are having good luck with 7.5V
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 30. November 2006 @ 09:47
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trigga71
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7. December 2006 @ 14:22 |
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As of right now i still have to unplug the sensor bar from the wall but what i has thinking was to use an XIR (for the XBOX) to use a remote to turn it off/on. from what i read it just needs 3.3v. Since i use an harmony remote i can program the commands it needs to turn off/on from the xbox dvd remote i already have. Does it sound like an good idea that would work?
here is the home page
http://cheaplpc.com/xir/default.asp
EDIT: i guess the X3 IR could be used aswell
Front Load NES, DreamCast, Nintendo Wii, PlayStation 3, MacBook Pro (w/ Laser Etching), iPhone 8Gb (w/ Laser Etching)
This message has been edited since posting. Last time this message was edited on 7. December 2006 @ 14:27
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