Wii remote with no sensor bar?

[HotDog-Cart]

Hey guys. I have a question.

I know the accelerometers in the Wii remote, allow for the remote to have some functionality without the sensor bars. Such as tilting, and most of the motion control techniques. Yet to navigate the wii's menu system main, and most game menu's, I need the sensor bar.

I'm asking this because, I'm putting a wii in my van for when my family travels, and a sensor bar would not be really wise to use. (Too difficult with the current structure of the van, plus distance of player to the sensor bar is inadequate.).

I want to eliminate the sensor bar, but be able to navigate atleast the main menu of the wii. (So, I could have games launch. My wii is hacked, so I need to be able to navigate the menu, to load the launcher for my BACKUPS.)

Either a homebrew program that allows for the controller (whether it be gamecube, or wii remote) to navigate the main menu by use of buttons, or some way to build the sensor bar into the wii remote or something. I'm stumped.

Any ideas? (We have to travel for a long time on xmas, and I want to do this before then.)

[tomqman]

the classic controller or guitar let you nav the menu using analog, but there is now system hacks avaible (for wii mote and nunchuck) i was looking for this myself

[collinE]

the sensor bar is just two infrared lights spaced a little ways apart. it doesn't actually sense anything itself and just connects to the wii for power. you can get third party sensor bars that are wireless or make the current one wireless by hooking some AA or AAA batteries to it. but then you still run the issue of outside interference through the windows.

I don't know of anything out there that would eliminate the need for it all together, though.

[HotDog-Cart]

Hmm. I didn't know that the classic controller could do that. Can I use a GC controller instead?

[tomqman]

Hmm. I didn't know that the classic controller could do that. Can I use a GC controller instead?

nope gamecube pads dont work on the menu . but if your using back loader, then you can make the wii boat straight to homebrew channel and just a gamecube pad from there

[HotDog-Cart]

Hmm. How do I do that? My wii has homebrew channel, and a gamma backup loader.

[tomqman]

if your not on 4.2 use this to help you get up to 4.2 http://gbatemp.net/index.php?showtopic=168890" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
and through that process you should of installed bootmii, then with the boot mii files on the sd card it will bring up the boot mii menu which you can navigate using gamecube pad or wiis power and reset buttons

[HotDog-Cart]

Oh, so bootmii bypasses the wii's menu? (Were kinda touching grey area of the rules here, btw.)


I thought of another idea.

Since, I can't totally omit the sensor bar (and the fact that most of my games dont require it except for menu's). I thought of a cool way to rig one up.

How about, two or 4 IR lights on a glove. I wear the glove in my left hand, and point the remote thats in my right hand, at the lights that are in the glove in my left hand. I'm 6'0, so I do have a good arm length.

Edit: Almost forgot: What kind of battery can be used to run a wii? How much Voltage and Amps does a wii require? Recommended batteries? I need about 1-2 hours of play time.

[tom61]

How about, two or 4 IR lights on a glove. I wear the glove in my left hand, and point the remote thats in my right hand, at the lights that are in the glove in my left hand. I'm 6'0, so I do have a good arm length.

Edit: Almost forgot: What kind of battery can be used to run a wii? How much Voltage and Amps does a wii require? Recommended batteries? I need about 1-2 hours of play time.

You need two IR LEDs(unless you're arranging then in tight clusters, like in the original). The problem for that short of spacing from the wii remote is that you'll probably need a fair bit of distance between them. You might be able to have one on your pinky and one on the thumb and spread them out. Much easier would be to make two IR LEDs with switches in a small box (like the smaller Altoids tin), and have them stick with velcro to either side of your screen. Just pull them off when you're done playing, and fold the van's screen up, no modification to it needed. The width of a 7" screen should be enough for the sensor bar at a few feet away, so even if it's a behind the seat one, it should work OK.

Also, the Wii Motion Plus has a gyroscope in it, and apparently helps with aiming. The gyroscope is basically absolute in it's positioning once turned on, unlike the accelerometers, which means the Wii as a whole wouldn't need the sensor bar at all once it new which way the TV was, if the firmware supports such use. I still haven't gotten one to play with, but it is conceivable that loss of the sensor bar, after getting it to point once with IR, while retaining pointing ability is possible.

The Wii draws enough power that it'd be prudent to just use your van's always on accessory port to power it.

[tomqman]

Oh, so bootmii bypasses the wii's menu? (Were kinda touching grey area of the rules here, btw.)

everything on gbatemp is legal, no illegal files are allowed on there

[vskid]

If you want to use 12v from the car, make sure its regulated to 12v. The alternator puts out ~14v, which might not be healthy for the Wii. To test if the power point is regulated, stick your multimeter's leads to the power points contacts and rev the engine to ~2000 RPMs and see what the voltage is.
If you don't have any regulated 12v points, you could just use a power inverter. The Wii barely draws any power, so a cheap 100w one should be fine.

Also, you could set the sensor bar on the dash of the van. You'll get enough distance for it to work, and it shouldn't be hard to point the wiimote at it long enough to select a game.

[OMGpedobear]

it draws around 3 amps, although the power brick is rated for 3.7 so put through an inverter thats a fair bit. Im looking to do something similar and im lookign into 5 1 amp 12 v regualtors in parralel with 5 w resistors on the outputs to power the wii from 2 7.3 V battery packs in series

[HotDog-Cart]

It has to be ran off of batteries. What type of battery do you guys suggest?

[vskid]

Is size/weight an issue? If not, sealed lead acid are the best. They're cheap (12v 7Ah on ebay for $15 a piece) and, uh, cheap. Lead acid batteries don't like being discharged all the way, so plan for ~50% more capacity than you need and charge them ASAP after use.
Of course, there's still that battery under the hood, with a constant charging source.

[Jatz]

Just thought id throw this out there, but maybe you could put the sensor bar underneath your rear view mirror.