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Padesatka #16 28/12/2008 - 16h23

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CyBerkut a dit:

If you accomplished the Bluetooth & battery removal...


Hmmmmmm...   Getting power to it isn't rocket science-  It's about NOT letting the magic smoke out...  But Bluetooth extraction really is a brilliant way to approach this, CyBerkut.

First we numb the patient...

I have read that Bluetooth is sort of a wireless wrapper for USB, which may mean that inside the Wii Remote the bridge between the sensor and USB output may already be there.   I wish we could go for radical surgery and

1. Measure 14.567 cm back on your wiimote from the sensor lens, and cut right through the whole thing with a bandsaw.

2. Solder in your 4 USB wires at the following locations (see fantasy diagram)


But seriously, it shouldn't be  too hard to locate the transmitter section of the wii, and see what kind of signal goes into the transmitter.  On the wii console side, of things people are using Chip-cheap USB adapters for better internet connections.

On the Wii Remote nunchuck-port side, so far as I understand it's just an input port for the nunchuck - no data available through there  :(

So we must go inside and find that broadcom bluetooth section ...notice how the board is invitingly sectioned with the white lines- and look at the four gigantic solder points in each corner - if only...

Posted Image

What if we intercepted the data that the Bluetooth section is getting...

Thanks, CyBerkut!
Edited by Padesatka on 28/12/2008 at 16h43.
doej #17 30/12/2008 - 02h40

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Look for Elecktor 11/2008

from the article

Communication
The I2C interface makes communication
between the sensor and the microcontroller
relatively easy. The camera
generates an (X,Y) coordinate set for
each blob within its field of view of
1024 × 768 pixels and sends this data
via
Edited by doej on 30/12/2008 at 03h42.
CyBerkut #18 30/12/2008 - 03h06

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It seems to be generally agreed upon that the nunchuk port is an I²C connection.  It may only be a 1-way input from the nunchuck (or other attached peripheral), which would see reasonable.  Even if it is a bi-directional connection, it seems to me unlikely that the camera's output would be routed to it.

Some I²C info:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%C2%B2C

There are links to hardware suppliers toward the bottom.  Someone more knowledgeable / imaginative than I am, might see something useful in there.

I agree that replacing the batteries with USB power would not be overly difficult.  (See http://wyxs.net/web/wiimote/digital_whiteboard.html#h7.2.1 )
Doing so while also transmitting the camera output to the computer/FreeTrack would be the bomb!

The gains from that, for FreeTrack and finger tracking (whiteboard) purposes would be significant.  In the process of ditching the batteries and the use of Bluetooth, it would become more feasible to mount the Wiimote(s) beyond normal reach...  No more need to 'start up' the Wiimote(s) and have the Bluetooth stack detect and connect.

Some whiteboard users have opined that up high, looking down on the screen, is the best position for the Wiimote.  A ceiling mounted Wiimote above the head for FreeTrack (with the axis swapped as needed) could be the best way to avoid having the head obstruct the Wiimote's view of the LEDs, too.
Edited by CyBerkut on 30/12/2008 at 03h11.
CyBerkut #19 30/12/2008 - 03h25

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doej #20 30/12/2008 - 03h39

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CyBerkut #21 30/12/2008 - 03h56

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Hmmm...

http://dfs.iis.u-tokyo.ac.jp/ja/index.php?WiiMote

"The Wiimote communicates with the Wii via a Bluetooth wireless link. The Bluetooth controller is a Broadcom 2042 chip, which is designed to be used with devices which follow the Bluetooth Human Interface Device (HID) standard, such as keyboards and mice. The Bluetooth HID is directly based upon the USB HID standard, and much of the same documentation applies."

That sounds promising.  It may indeed be feasible to find points to wire into for data transfer via USB.
CyBerkut #22 30/12/2008 - 04h01

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doej @ 30/12/2008 - 03h39 a dit:

http://www.elektor.com/magazines/2008/november/tracking-hot-spots.704134.lynkx



That looks promising.  Does anyone know more about it?
the_target #23 30/12/2008 - 18h13

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@Padesatka
Check PM
CyBerkut #24 04/02/2009 - 15h42

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{Bump!}

Anything new / interesting on this?  I would *really* love to get Bluetooth out of the equation!

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