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Wiimote Project » Forum » General Wiimote and Technology » General Hardware Talk » buttons 1 and 2 'remote'?
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krid
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« on: July 11, 2008, 03:17:16 AM »
Hi All,
In a classroom, one uses a whiteboard fixed to the wall and the Wiimote will be fixed to the ceiling.
It's a bit clumsy every day to find a ladder, press the 1 and 2 buttons and have another teacher start the WiimoteConnect program. The same goes for changing the batteries but that problem can be solved in various ways.

Is there a way to 'remote control' the 1 and 2 buttons?
Any hints would be greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Dirk
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UndCon
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« Reply #1 on: July 11, 2008, 05:29:31 AM »
If it is mounted to the ceiling you can remove the battery lid and use the Wiimote without it.

Pressing the red button is OK as well...

just like this set-up:



http://www.instructables.com/id/Wiimote-Whiteboard-Set-up/

The problem appears when you mount your Wiimote upside-down Wink


If you are into soldering you could add a DIY-remote feature to the Wiimote - and when you are at it add external power so it can be attached up there forever.

It would be really handy to start the Wiimote with a remote control...
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ujs
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« Reply #2 on: July 11, 2008, 05:48:54 AM »
I was recently asked this question with regards to my Java Whiteboard software:

Quote
Second, we need to permanently
have buttons 1 and 2 pressed down as teachers won't be able to do that if
it is on top of a mounted projector.  We will probably use some sort of
tape to do this.  The whole idea is to get the wiimote mounted and never
have to mess with batteries and pressing the two buttons plus getting it
out of the way where students won't mess with it.  Will the software work
currently as is if the two buttons are physically pushed down?  What issues
might we run into if we do this?  We're nearly 100% Macintosh in our
district.

Having the buttons pushed down permanently should work. Possible issues are:
- Waste of energy (how much?)
- Decreased Wiimote lifetime?
- Constantly blinking light, might be annoying?
- Interference with other bluetooth devices? (the Wiimote is always in pairing mode when unused)

Another solution:
As you may know, the Wiimote also has a red button under the battery cover which can also be used to establish the connection. One could try to take the button out and it "extend" it by using some wires...


Uwe
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Java WiimoteWhiteboard for Mac OS X, Windows and Linux.
inio
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« Reply #3 on: July 11, 2008, 12:12:49 PM »
By drilling a hole into the front face of the Wii Remote at the right spot, you can solder a wire to a specific pin of the red button.  Connecting this pin to ground (negative battery terminal) causes the remote to sync.  Which pin you have to use seems to change between hardware revisions, but in the latest ones I've worked with it was the it's the bottom-right pin, located a little up from the space between the player 1 and player 2 LEDs.

You could use speaker wire to create the extension.  Solder one wire to the pin on the switch and the other to the negative battery clip (soldering to the clips themselves can be really tricky and requires a HOT iron).  And the other end of the wire, solder a normally open button between the wires.
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krid
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« Reply #4 on: July 13, 2008, 06:39:17 AM »
Hi All,
Thanks for all the advices. As I understand you well, the matter can be solved with opening the Wii and soldering three wires
One for ground, one for the red button switch and one for  the + 3 Volt. 3 Volt will be delivered via a power adapter.
Am I right concerning the wiring?
Kind regards,
Dirk
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inio
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« Reply #5 on: July 13, 2008, 12:11:14 PM »
Exactly.  Just make sure not to supply more than 3V on the power line.  The Wii Remote is not designed for source voltages above that, and can be significantly damaged by voltages as low as 3.5V.  Lower is just fine, probably down to around 2.2V.  I add a 2.85V regulator inside each Wii Remotes I've wired up like this to make sure I don't over-volt it.
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krid
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« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2008, 06:31:48 AM »
Hi All,
After opening the Wii I found the location of the  syncing switch, i.e. the red button under the battery cover:
.
Question:
Which numbers to short circuit in order to enable syncing?
Any help greatly appreciated.
Kind regards,
Dirk
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krid
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« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2008, 06:34:57 AM »
Forgot question:
Which one of the 4 pins is connected to ground?
Dirk
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krid
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« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2008, 09:04:02 AM »
Hi All,
Someone called me. One answer.
1 and 2 are connected, see the printed bpard.
3 and 4 are connected, see idem.

To synchonise, by pressing the red button,
you connect 1 to 3, or 2 to 4, or ... etc.
As far as we could find out, none of the pins is connected to either + or - of the batteriies.
Dirk
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inio
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« Reply #9 on: July 18, 2008, 11:28:51 AM »
I noticed that the logic ground and negative battery terminal aren't directly connected.  However, their voltage stays about the same, so you can use bat- as a node to short the sync sense line to.
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krid
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« Reply #10 on: August 30, 2008, 11:30:15 AM »
Hello Inio,
Your solution works.
Connecting the - 3 Volt of the battery
to either of the 2 sync switch contacts
located closest to 'button 2' on the Wii
causes the 4 LEDs to flash.
Thanks for the tip.
Up to the next problem.
Dirk
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