Wii's sensor bar and other options

[igboo]

Since the Wii's sensor bar is really just an infrared led light source, has anybody tried using the Wiimote with the LED bars from the LCD Topgun?

I haven't picked up the Wii yet, but I'm trying to avoid having a whole bunch of wires all over my television.

I'm thinking that maybe the six different light sources might increase the Wiimote's accuracy.  Then again, maybe it'll just mess things up.

Anyone planning to try this out?

igboo

[Zero_Hour]

Since I don't currently own a Wii or LCD Topgun, I really don't have a difinitive answer. I guess it probably has to do with how the Topguns leds are spaced. You might want to take a look at this article for some more info / ideas.

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/11/24/diy-erless-wii-sensor-bar/

[versapak]

I have seen video of someone replacing the sensor bar with 2 candles, and it worked, but I'm sure the spacing between the lights play a key role in functionality, so I doubt the topgun strips will work.

[AlanS17]

Does anybody have a picture of this sensor bar? A schematic would be even better.

I'm getting a Wii for Christmas, but I've got nowhere to mount this sensor bar. My tv has a built-in stand and a sloped top. I'm trying to figure out where I'm going to be able to put this thing. Plus I don't want an ugly cable detracting from my otherwise slick tv.

[AlanS17]

I've got an idea for a new project for myself...

BYOSPWSB - Build Your Own Solar Powered Wii Sensor Bar

OR (the easy route)

BYOBOWSB - Build Your Own Battery-Operated Wii Sensor Bar

Either way, I want something wireless. I'll worry about that when I actually have a Wii, though.

[versapak]

Even with a sloped top on your tv (mine slopes as well), you should be able to sit this thing on top of it.

The bar is only 9.5" wide x 1" deep, and only 3/8" tall.

[AlanS17]

Even with a sloped top on your tv (mine slopes as well), you should be able to sit this thing on top of it.

The bar is only 9.5" wide x 1" deep, and only 3/8" tall.

Yeah, that will work after all... but I'll still have the ugly wire. 

[versapak]

I guess it is ugly if it is in front of the TV like in the pic.

Mine is sitting on top of the TV, so the wire goes behind, and is never seen at all.


Even if not though... I think I could live with a little ugliness for the fun I have been having playing the Wii.

[AtomSmasher]

I was hoping to use my Wii in the living room with my projector, I guess I'll either have to build my own sensor bar or hope someone starts to make one.  Seems like an obvious product for someone (if not Nintendo themselves) to make.  I'm not getting it until Christmas, so I still have a little time to figure out what to do.

[AlanS17]

This dude made his own battery-operated sensor bar. It's basically what I had  in mind... just uglier. He didn't take any sort of power pulse modulation into account, though. And he says it works perfectly for him. I've read in several places that there's some sort of pulse modulation on the input power source, and that "always on" IR signals weren't quite cutting it. So who do I believe?

http://doctabu.livejournal.com/64758.html

[sphetr2]

On i-hacked (or hackaday, can't remember) I think they said you just need to IR sources, which is why the candles worked. The bar doesn't sense anything, it just gives the IR source.

In fact, the cord connecting to the Wii is just a power cord, which is why that dude's thing worked wirelessly, because it just uses batteries instead.

[AlanS17]

On i-hacked (or hackaday, can't remember) I think they said you just need to IR sources, which is why the candles worked. The bar doesn't sense anything, it just gives the IR source.

In fact, the cord connecting to the Wii is just a power cord, which is why that dude's thing worked wirelessly, because it just uses batteries instead.

I understand all of that. That's not the issue. The issue is modulating the power input. Some people say that that "always on" approach leaves a jittery cursor on the screen.

[shmokes]

Another possible option for projectors for the less BYO people around is to just get an extension cable for the sensor bar.  Pelican makes one currently and they're dirt cheap if I remember right.

[MustardTent]

Since the Wii's sensor bar is really just an infrared led light source, has anybody tried using the Wiimote with the LED bars from the LCD Topgun?

I haven't picked up the Wii yet, but I'm trying to avoid having a whole bunch of wires all over my television.

I'm thinking that maybe the six different light sources might increase the Wiimote's accuracy.  Then again, maybe it'll just mess things up.

Anyone planning to try this out?

igboo

I have a TopGun and a Wii, so I tried this out.  It works -- control is just as smooth as normal. 

The only difference I noticed was that I actually had to point my Wiimote a little off center (to the right).  Not bad though.

It's also worth mentioning that my LCD TopGun is on my arcade machine, and my Wii is on a separate TV (widescreen).  To test this, I just stood in front of my arcade cab and watched the results on my TV.  Since my TV is widescreen (and you can set the Wii to output video in widescreen) and the cab isn't, that may be the reason for the offset.

As a side note, I looked at the IR LEDs on both the sensor bar and the TopGun bars with my digital camera, and it looks like the sensor bar LEDs are a little less intense than the TopGun's LEDs.

[tommy]

I have my sensor on top of my TV along with the console close to each other, i just routed the sensor wire through the Wii console stand and it is not seen.

[AlanS17]

This is a picture of my TV. It's a Samsung HLP5085W. So yu can see how placing a sensor bar could be difficult. It's almost floating in free space. The thing you can't see in the picture is that it slopes steeply from the top of the screen towards the back.

I'm just hoping there's enough lip at the top to hold a sensor bar. I really don't want to hurt my pretty TV with double sided foam tape.

[shmokes]

Open your TV and mount the sensor bar behind the screen.  This would actually be really easy for me because I have a projection TV.  In fact, the IR receiver for my TV's remote is mounted dead center, about six inches behind the screen.  I guess it might be a bit harder to find the space inside an LCD/Plasma.

[versapak]

Like I said, it is only 1" deep.

I can't imagine that there is a 50" tv out there that is too thin to hold that little thing on top (aside from front projection of course).

[MustardTent]

The sensor bar can be setup in two ways:

Mounting tape can hold the sensor bar on the TV/shelf/whatever, or you can use the sensor bar stand. 

Wanted to mention this because when I just used the included mounting tape, my sensor bar kept falling off the TV. (It was mounted underneath the screen)

[Howard_Casto]

You guys ever heard of led throwies?

Make two of those only use ir leds and put switches on em.  Then they are tiny enough to mount directly on the tv via sticky gum (the stuff they put signs up with in grade school... it'll hold up heavy stuff, but unlike tape it doesn't leave glue on the surface when you remove it).  You could clean up the appearance by mounting them in a bottle cap or soemthing and painting it to match your tv.  Same thing should work with a projector, only mount them to the bottom of your projector screen. 

My point is that one guy's approach was so ugly because he used big batteries and wired both the left and right arrays together, neither of which is necessary. 

For that matter I think the wii sensor bar is big enough to have AAA's put inside it.  Just a thought.

[AlanS17]

For that matter I think the wii sensor bar is big enough to have AAA's put inside it.  Just a thought.

My first instinct is to make that existing bar work somehow. If I can fit batteries into it, even better. We'll see when I'm holding it in my hands.

[jelwell]

Since the Wii's sensor bar is really just an infrared led light source, has anybody tried using the Wiimote with the LED bars from the LCD Topgun?

I haven't picked up the Wii yet, but I'm trying to avoid having a whole bunch of wires all over my television.

I'm thinking that maybe the six different light sources might increase the Wiimote's accuracy.  Then again, maybe it'll just mess things up.

Anyone planning to try this out?

igboo

I have a TopGun and a Wii, so I tried this out.  It works -- control is just as smooth as normal. 

The only difference I noticed was that I actually had to point my Wiimote a little off center (to the right).  Not bad though.

It's also worth mentioning that my LCD TopGun is on my arcade machine, and my Wii is on a separate TV (widescreen).  To test this, I just stood in front of my arcade cab and watched the results on my TV.  Since my TV is widescreen (and you can set the Wii to output video in widescreen) and the cab isn't, that may be the reason for the offset.

As a side note, I looked at the IR LEDs on both the sensor bar and the TopGun bars with my digital camera, and it looks like the sensor bar LEDs are a little less intense than the TopGun's LEDs.

Does this mean the casing on the LCD TopGun sticks is moot? Can I decase the LEDs inside and mount the LEDs on my arcade cabinet without having to worry about the hefty sticks?
Joseph Elwell.

[Silver]

[quote author=jelwell link=topic=60537.msg601176#msg601176 date=1165270023
Does this mean the casing on the LCD TopGun sticks is moot? Can I decase the LEDs inside and mount the LEDs on my arcade cabinet without having to worry about the hefty sticks?
Joseph Elwell.
[/quote]

I think someone else tried this ages ago and said it works fine. All they are is a set of IR sources for the gun - so decasing should be fine. I would aim to copy the spacing between them though.