Wireless Wii Nunchuck *TESTERS WANTED

torqueboards is handing the ordering. It looks like we'll ship 5-6 units initially, and if demand exists to cover costs I'll get some PCBs printed. I *expect* the PCB costs to be similar but I haven't priced it out yet. The shipped products will be protected with heat-shrink, and will have an exposed reset button, nunchuck port, and servo/BEC connector. Two diagnostic LEDs are under the clear heat-shrink. The first batch oughta go out later this week or early next week.

In the attached photo, #s 3 (my working reference unit) and 4,5,6,7 are in progress.
 

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Cool idea!

Very funny, we are actually using a Nunchuk as an external controller for our simulation environment. It's not the wireless version though, wish I had tuned in earlier, I could have made the guys aware of this option. :cry:

Hmmm probably could still use it though, it uses Bluetooth I am assuming? If that's the case then pairing with it with our hardware boards shouldn't be too hard.
 
The Nyko and Memorex are intended to be indistinguishable from a wired nunchuck; it would probably work. All the wireless dark arts are handled by their base plug thingy, less some curiosities with how they sync up.
 
^Looking at the picture I think I see a port for the Nyko Nunchuck receiver. At first I thought this was acting as the lone receiver communicating directly with the Nunchuck but it seems like it is reading from the Nunchuck receiver module's registers. From the sounds of it- you want to pair the Nunchuck directly to your hardware. This "pairing" you speak of may prove to be very difficult without knowing the communication protocol as you are not just reading registry values from the receiver's registers (via I2C) which is pretty trivial and universal (many tutorials and libraries written).
 
lpbug: the wiiceiver has a standard nunchuck hole. The Nyko (or Memorex, or wired Nintendo) nunchuck plug goes there. if it's not clear, the wiiceiver *works*. I did not buy a radio when I built up my board, I'm using this thing exclusively. The top one in that photo is my personal working unit. There are two other earlier prototypes, and an Uno shield, also still running.
 
lpbug said:
^Looking at the picture I think I see a port for the Nyko Nunchuck receiver. At first I thought this was acting as the lone receiver communicating directly with the Nunchuck but it seems like it is reading from the Nunchuck receiver module's registers. From the sounds of it- you want to pair the Nunchuck directly to your hardware. This "pairing" you speak of may prove to be very difficult without knowing the communication protocol as you are not just reading registry values from the receiver's registers (via I2C) which is pretty trivial and universal (many tutorials and libraries written).
Click to expand...

Yes that's true, that's why I mentioned Bluetooth, if it's using BT, then more than likely it's sending a packet of data which contain the X and Y axis values, for steering and throttle, and perhaps also the accelerometer 3 axis data, and the Z and C button values as well in the same packet. Even if the packets are separate it shouldn't be too difficult to decipher which is which and decode the data.

The I2C bus is master driven, so one has to request data from the slave device, however this wireless setup may be asynchronous, and the data may flow autonomously, or maybe not. Either way if the wireless protocol is Bluetooth or WiFi decoding the data packets shouldn't be too hard, but you never know. I am sure someone out there has hacked it, lol, gotta love the DIY open source community!
 
Just sent you the cash Torque, and just bought my kama wireless wii.
Guess im in ...
8)
Now dont cha all wish you were cool like me?
 
beto_pty said:
Just sent you the cash Torque, and just bought my kama wireless wii.
Guess im in ...
8)
Now dont cha all wish you were cool like me?
Click to expand...

Did he make you promise to send your thoughts, at least as a PM? Did he mention that you get to mail it back so we can flash it if we need to update it? :D

I'm hoping to ship on Saturday. Thanks for helping test!
 
Hi Austin..
Yes you will be a witness to all my thoughts.. brace yourself...

Actually it is already taking too long to arrive.. the shippers must be amateurs...how annoying....ugh...
The welding is shaky.. the robot who welded this was drunk....
the packaging used plastic where is the eco-conciousness....
and the resistor colors scheme doesnt match the capacitor's.. what was the designer thinking...
:D

Unless it is really complex I'll probably be doing the arduino reprograming or flashing myself as the shipping from Panama to the US is quite expensive..and I already have my computer setup to connect to my uno and my attiny85 and i do some basica rduino programming so hopefully that will sufice..
 
It'll be fine; I only drink at work, so this is a pretty good quality build :) Also I was careful to select lead-free solder, I think the whole thing is RoHS safe. The resistor colors don't match though, you can thank Mouser for that. I did make sure the two I2C pullups were oriented the same though.

If you can burn attiny85s you can do the mega. It's just an Uno, same bootloader. There's a 6-pin header exposed for connection to an Uno board (mega removed), or you can burn the software to an Uno and swap the mega. Or you can pull it and burn with an ISP, whatever you prefer. The writeup will include complete directions. As I've noted previously, this was deliberately an "Arduino on a Breadboard" setup, so the same rules apply for updating this thing.
 
I've been testing the wireless nunchuck these past few days and it's pretty seamless. It's as if I was using my RC controller. My previous initial assumption thinking that it would be harder or more annoying is irrelevant now. Connection is solid and stays through 100%.

There should be 5 available this weekend. Beto will be sent one. Let us know if you are ready for one and can test it. We are mainly interested in people who can actually use them right away and test while also giving us feedback on improving the controller programming. I doubt there is any issues anymore but would like to hear how it works for others.

It's pretty awesome to throw the controller in my back pocket now!
 
I'm finishing up testing this first batch: here's a shot of 2 of them, aside a Memorex controller + base

beto: yours is going out in tomorrow's mail.
 

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Wooohoo pretty excited...

I'll updare as soon as if gets here.. maybe a 10 days or so from tomorrow......

The board comes preflased right? Otherwise ill set up my arduino as isp breadboard connection

Im a xbox guy so I gotta ask... is the nyko rechargeable or doesit require AAAs ..
 
Sign me up for a plug and play. Who do I send my 40 duckets to? :wink: (I just paypal'd Torque)
 
beto_pty said:
Wooohoo pretty excited...

I'll updare as soon as if gets here.. maybe a 10 days or so from tomorrow......

The board comes preflased right? Otherwise ill set up my arduino as isp breadboard connection

Im a xbox guy so I gotta ask... is the nyko rechargeable or doesit require AAAs ..
Click to expand...

Yes, they're pre-flashed and tested. Updating is easy; remove the mega from your Uno and connect (top to bottom): 5V, Reset, RX, TX, GND to the header on the Wiiceiver. The unit is enclosed in clear heat-shrink, you can just poke pins right through it. It has standard Uno firmware (Optiboot, if you care). I'll post instructions and a video ... eventually.

I'll post if/when there is a feature update. The software will always be available on https://github.com/jaustindavid/wiiceiver

The Nyko remote comes with two AAAs.
 
Unfortunately, we don't have a ton of prototypes to send out. I'm sure, Austin has been spending a great deal of time actually soldering them together and actually testing them. We'll only be able to send about 5 prototypes out and feedback would be greatly appreciated that way Austin can modify the programming. I'm pretty sure - it's pretty much done though. All the issues that were noticed have all been fixed now and it's a pretty stable controller. Would like others opinions though.

Austin is also working on getting some PCBs printed should be within 2-3 weeks hopefully. I'll be sending PM's to people who are interested. Let us know if your interested in the final PCB version as well.
 
I spent a lot of time on the Nyko Kama this weekend, and I found (and may have fixed) a connectivity problem. The Memorex doesn't have this particular problem, but it does have issues all its own.

The symptom: the light on the nunchuck flashes as if it's lost sync. The wiiceiver may go idle (the reaction when it thinks a controller is inactive), or it might act as if nothing's wrong. If it does go idle, it may come back quickly -- again, reaction to inactivity and recovery.

After a little trial and error this looks like the Nyko starting to loose connectivity from its base. I could reproduce it by getting further from the board, until the light on the nunchuck started blinking. Get a little closer and just putting my hand over the 'chuck would restart the blink. I changed the orientation of the base (to simulate my proposed new layout) and confirmed that it took more distance to make it blink and eventually drop.

In my setup the base is under the board, inverted (top facing down), and pretty much under my back (left) foot. The remote in my right hand, signal passing through 5 layers of maple and koa, surrounded by possibly-noisy wiring, and the antenna was at right angles to the remote and on the wrong side of about half of me.

I separated the housing for the Kama base: remove the spacer, press hardish with a thumb on the middle of the back to release the clips, and lift off the top (with the LED window). The little board in there has the antenna and the electronics. I covered these with heat shrink, stuck a bit of velcro on it, and have it now flat against the board in roughly the same place as before. Changing the angle of that board, from horizontal to vertical, seems to have made the difference.

I'll keep racking up miles and will check back if it doesn't stay awesome.
 
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