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foobar2k
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 USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/05 19:42 This thread discusses the article: USB Wii Sensor Bar

Nintendo's Wii has a great controller which has both accellorometers and pointing functionality for fun with motion, and it also communicates using the Bluetooth protocol. This means that it is possible to hook the Wiimote up to a Bluetooth enabled PC which has all sorts of possible applications. For example, it is possible to use the Wiimote as a mouse in Windows, or use it in games. To detect where it is pointing, the Wiimote uses the Wii's "Sensor bar", which is actually an array of infrared LEDs which the Wiimote uses as a position reference. To make it nice and easy for me to use my Wiimote on my computer I decided to construct a USB sensor bar for my PC. Here are the instructions for how you can make one too!
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Cocksix
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 Re:USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/06 09:58 I am thinking of doing this but need to get myself a bluetooth dongle first.

This may be an obvious question but is this a bluetooth 1.0 or 2.0 device and does it matter?
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foobar2k
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 Re:USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/06 10:01 I assume it is Bluetooth 1.x as it is just a simple human interface device but it doesn't really matter. Any old cheapo dongle should work great.

The dongle I use is a Belkin one from about 3 years ago. I had to follow a guide to install the drivers on Vista but apart from that no troubles.
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hacktek
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 Re:USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/12 02:44 Hey man the only IR led i could find in my area is this:

Link

yet i don't know if i can use this. The back of the package says as follows:

Detector (photo transistor - clear package)
Maximum Voltage and Currents
VCEO Collector to Emmiter: 70V
VECO Emmiter to Collector: 5V
Ic Collector Current 50mA
Total Power Dissipation: 150mW
Peak sensitivity wavelenght: 850nm
Spectral Bandwidth range: 620 - 980nm
Angle of half sensitivity: +/-20

Emitter (tinted package)
Reverse Voltage: 5V
Continuous forward current: 150mA
Forward voltage: 1.3-1.7V MAX
Radiant Power output: 11 - 15mW
Wavelenght at peak emission: 950nm

I know i have to use the detector for this (the clear one) but it does not have a forward voltage rating so i do not which kind of resistor i would need. Is it safe to assume that the forward voltage of the emitter could also be the forward voltage of the detector?

Post edited by: hacktek, at: 2007/04/12 07:15
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hacktek
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 Re:USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/12 06:13 Well i tried it anyway with a 68 ohm resistor (at 1.3 forward voltage and a 50mA current i would have needed a ~48ohm resistor) and it's not working at all. I get motion detection on wiinmote, but no ir detection. How would i know what might be the problem? Any way to tell if the leds blew up? Nothing strange happened when i connected the cable (well, nothing happened at all hehe). Solder points look fine and there's no bridges or anything like that.
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foobar2k
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 Re:USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/12 09:24 hacktek wrote:
I know i have to use the detector for this (the clear one) but it does not have a forward voltage rating so i do not which kind of resistor i would need
Actually it is the Emitter that you need, and you need at least 2 of them.

The detector will detect infrared light, you want to have 2 sources for infrared light.

Buy 2 of these packs and use the emitters. Keep the detectors as they can be used in another project.

Are you sure there are no cheaper individual IR LEDs in radio shack? I got mine from Maplin in the UK for much cheaper than that, and the UK is meant to be expensive!

Good luck

Edit: LOL I just read your comment on the article.

Post edited by: foobar2k, at: 2007/04/12 10:25
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hacktek
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 Re:USB Wii Sensor Bar - 2007/04/12 16:18 Yeah i know, that was pretty dumb, especially since the graphic symbol for both is in the back of the package lol. That was the only one i could find and i searched several stores and places so i decided to just go with them. Glad it worked though, replacing the leds was no big deal.
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