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Wii Remote

Posted: Sat Apr 05, 2008 11:26 pm
by shock
Hi,

(I'm a complete newbie.)

As people here are probably aware, the Wiimote (the remote control that comes with a Wii) has a built-in IR "camera". It has a resolution of 1024x768 and can track up to 4 "blobs" at 100 Hz. The Wiimote uses bluetooth and there are code libraries to interface to it without needing a Wii.

For a project I'm working on I'd like to make it pick up signals from another IR remote control. I believe that since the Wiimote only samples at 100 Hz, the bit rate for the remote control would have to be below 50 Hz. I've read that some universal remotes can do this, so I thought I might be able to use JP1 to program a universal remote to talk to the Wiimote. (I'm already writing and adapting code on the other end to decode and use what the Wiimote gets from the IR sensor anyway.) But I thought I'd better ask here first before going too much further with this.

So my biggest questions are:
1) can I safely ignore the carrier frequency and just focus on the bit rate?
2) can I get the bit rate slow enough?
3) are there any "gotchas" or things I just am ignorant about that make this a dumb/undoable idea?

Thanks in advance!

Posted: Tue Apr 08, 2008 2:04 pm
by classicsat
1. if you know what the carrier frequency is, likely. Oftentimes, there is a relation between the data rate and the carrier frequency, since they are derived from the same resonator, and full carrier cycles are used.
2. If you mean by futzing with the electronics of the remote, sure. Just manually feed a lower frequency signal into the remote, instead of using its resonator.

3: IMO, itis overly complex, if you have to read remotes somehow.

if you are going to futs with hardware, make a direct IR detector.

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 4:55 pm
by The Robman
Looking at the experiment performed on the following site:
http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/21/wii- ... r-hax0red/

where they used to conventional remotes instead of the Wii sensor bar, it appears that the Wii remote is not too fussy about what sort of IR signal it picks up. Just for yucks, I tried learning the signal the the sensor bar emits, but I couldn't pick it up.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JTGSkYRDpWY

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:31 pm
by Kevin Timmerman
The LEDs don't send a coded signal. They are just an IR light source.

Posted: Sat Jan 03, 2009 6:35 pm
by The Robman
That's what I guessed, thx for confirming.