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Author Topic: Sensor bar questions  (Read 1831 times)
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anoop
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« on: March 22, 2008, 12:01:09 PM »
I noticed that the wii sensor bar has 10 LEDs.

5 on each side. in this configuration /|||\ almost like a fan.

Reading on the web I also found that the wii sensor bar uses 12v from the back of the wii (very much like firewire).

In our class project, we're using the wiimote to control an interface written in java. Ideally, we'd like it to work from about 10 or 12 feet on a couch.

My question is this:

when building my sensor bar, should i try to mimic the sensor bar as much as possible? (10 LEDs and 12v power supply)

I've got 4 of the 276-143 LEDs from radioshack right now and can get another 6 more without issues but i'd like to stick to the standard USB 5v.

Will 4 LEDs be enough?

Also, instead of destroying a USB cable, I was thinking about purchasing a 5pin mini usb female connector and use that on the sensor bar so that there is more flexibility on the power source. I can use my laptop for power or use a blackberry phone charger that plugs into the wall.

Any thoughts?

thanks

Anoop
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UndCon
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« Reply #1 on: March 22, 2008, 12:32:21 PM »
I don´t know anything about the Wii - or the sensorbar but if you can connect to USB you gain lots of usability

I built my IRbar to connect to USB and I got a sample connector and cable from www.molex.com (ready connector in 1 end and 5 wires in the other (+,- data,data and ground) simply cut unnecessary wires

Now I can connectmy IRbar to any computer to demonstrate the project Wink

USB is going to power my IR-pens as well
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anoop
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« Reply #2 on: March 22, 2008, 04:26:15 PM »
Ah but what distance does it work at and what distance does it fail to work reliably?

i'm looking to be able to use the wii remote in my application from at least 10 feet.

any thoughts on that?
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anoop
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« Reply #3 on: March 22, 2008, 09:24:38 PM »
I ended up building the bar with 4 LEDs. Its cool looking but i'm not sure if it will do the job.

But it's a start. I'll just have to add more LEDs and maybe make it bigger.


how does the distance between LEDs play into all this?
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UndCon
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« Reply #4 on: March 23, 2008, 04:28:58 AM »
I dont know about the distance when using multiple IR-led´s but when you are using 2 IR-led's for the VRdesktoop they are used to calculate the distance to the wiimote (simple trigonometry)

Can it be the same in your case but you are using several LED´s to get better "visibility"
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anoop
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« Reply #5 on: March 24, 2008, 12:46:33 AM »
After building the 4 LED sensor bar in the || config on each side, i noticed that the wiimote is not as good on the left and right side.

I may have to do three on each side /|\ and do 6 LEDs to get better "visibility".

Of course, further testing should prove this.

Thanks for your help/advice.

Anoop
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defray
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« Reply #6 on: March 30, 2008, 11:39:58 AM »
Just in case anyone is interested, here's my little tutorial how I built an 8-LED USB-SensorBar, using 50mA LEDs. It's in German but there's enough images for an English speaker to understand it I guess.
If anybody has questions regarding this, feel free to ask.
http://mulb.org/node/319

Have fun.
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UndCon
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« Reply #7 on: March 30, 2008, 01:01:09 PM »
If I had more IRleds at home I would test using various diffusors
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