Tuesday, June 14, 2011

Recent losses. :( A personal message...

If you guys take a closer look at my blog now, you'll see that I no longer have Google Adsense ads. This is because someone has click bombed me and Google already replied me saying that they can not reinstate my Adsense account. I'm not here to point fingers or anything, but here to tell you that I will most likely be replacing my old Adsense ads with Amazon Associate ads. I may find another PTC advertising company later. As of right now, the only program I am participating in is the Amazon Associates program.

I will do my best to still come and bring you great content on all my blogs and websites. :) But yeah, not saying you have to or anything. If you buy something from Amazon and you do it through my referral links, I do make some referral money.

Anyways guys, please don't forget to share my blog/website with your friends, family members, co-workers, and everyone else in this world! Thank you!

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

Not Very Detailed Quick Start Guide

Hello hackers and fans, obviously I haven't finished designing my project website yet, but for all of you guys that knows a little bit about computers, here is a quick start guide. This guide is not that detailed and I have no pictures to show you each step. If you are not sure what I am talking about, you should probably wait for my detailed instructions or video tutorial.

To fully understand this... Well let me explain to you how the Wiimote works and what the Wii sensor bar does. There are 8 infrared LEDs (It's been a while since I opened it up. Might be a different number.) in the Wii sensor bar. The Wii outputs 7.2 volts of power for the LEDs to light up. That's all that is in the Wii sensor bar. The Wii does not communicate with the Wii sensor bar. In front of the Wiimote, there is an infrared camera that picks up the infrared light and calculates its position. The data it calculates is fed back to the Wii via Bluetooth.

First of all you will have to be able to turn on your Wii sensor bar or provide another source of infrared light without the Wiimote connecting to the Wii. There are 3 ways to do this:
  1. Mod your Wii sensor bar to use an external power supply, like a battery. To do this:
    1. Get some very thin copper wire (hopefully in black and red), soldering iron, wire stripper (lighter can also be used), a tri-wing screwdriver (Amazon Link), SPST switch, 9-volt battery holder, green LED (optional), and a 9-volt battery.
    2. Open up the Wii sensor bar with the tri-wing screwdriver.
    3. You see where the original wire on the Wii sensor bar runs in and splits into 2 wires? Go cut and strip some of your copper wire and solder it onto the 2 contact points. (Make sure the copper wire is long enough to run out of the Wii sensor bar later.) Do not remove the original wire! Just add the 2 new wires. 
    4. Note which wire is the positive and negative. (black = negative red = positive). 
    5. Thread the 2 wires through the hole where you original wire runs out of the Wii sensor bar. Reassemble the Wii sensor bar. 
    6. Wire the SPST switch, 9-volt battery holder, and the optional green LED in series. (Positive to negative, positive to negative.) Make sure you get the polarity (positive and negative) correct! The green LED serves as a power indicator.
    7. DO NOT PLUG WII SENSOR BAR BACK INTO WII!
    8. Plug in 9-volt battery, turn on the switch, and test out your modified Wii sensor bar. If it works, great!
    9. Wire tie the long Wii sensor bar cord so you don't accidently trip yourself.
    10. If you decide you want to plug your Wii sensor bar back into the Wii, make sure you remove the battery! If you don't, the LEDs in the Wii sensor bar will burn or melt. Yes, it might start a fire, so DO NOT FORGET! 
    11. You have successfully modified your Wii sensor bar!
  2. Un-sync your Wiimote from your Wii. Find the Sync button on your Wii and hold it for 15 seconds. This will clear all the synced Wiimotes from your Wii. Next time you want to just use the Wii sensor bar, turn on the Wii with the power switch on the Wii. 
  3. Get another source of infrared light. This can be done with candles and other infrared LEDs. I found 2 sources of infrared LEDs on Amazon for you.
After you are done with all that and have an infrared light source for your Wiimote, it is time to connect your Wiimote to your computer via Bluetooth. If you don't have Bluetooth, here are a few dongles I would recommend:


To connect your Wiimote to your computer follow these directions:
  1. Go to your system tray. Move your mouse to the bottom right of the screen (on most computers). You should see a bunch of tiny icons. Find the Bluetooth icon and right click it.
  2. Select the option that says Add a Bluetooth Device.
  3. Press the 1 and 2 buttons on your Wiimote. It should show up as "Input Device" or "Nintendo RVL-003". Double click the device to connect.
  4. The Wiimote has no pairing code, select the option that let's you pair without a pairing code.
  5. Now it should say pairing with... and another balloon should popup saying installing device driver.
  6. Wait for those 2 things to say they are finished. 
Final few steps of this guide...
  1. Open GlovePIE. If you don't have GlovePIE, go ahead and download it here.
  2. Copy paste the latest version of WiimoteIR into GlovePIE. You can find the list here.
  3. Follow the instructions on the script on how to set it up.
  4. Enjoy! 
Thanks for reading this Not Very Detailed Quick Start Guide. If some parts didn't make sense to you, please wait for a more detailed version. :)

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Website Banner Completed

WiimoteIR Website Banner
So I've been working on a website banner for the project website. The banner you see on the left is going in the top left hand corner of my website on every page. :) Since I don't really have that much of an idea of how to design the project website, I think I'll be making a template similar to my ComputerSpot website. You see my ComputerSpot banner on the top left hand corner of my website right? I think I will be putting this WiimoteIR banner in the same position. The templates should be about the same.

The reason I am doing this is because I want a lot of beginners to be able to start using this script. I know a lot of you guys that worked with GlovePIE before already know how to use this, but there are a lot of beginners out there that probably don't even know what GlovePIE is. Providing the instructions so even the beginners can use it has top priority right now. I mean, I can always redesign the website later.

So please stay tuned! If you don't know where the project website is, it is here. Also, if you can not wait for my website to finish, I've added a quick start guide to my FAQ page that gives you an overview (not detailed) instructions of how to start using the script.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Youtube and Website Work

So as all of you fans know, the post before this one is the 1.0 version of the WiimoteIR type #1 script! If you do not know how to use GlovePIE or you are a beginner and have no idea how to use that script, I will have tutorials coming up on my Youtube channel and the project website.

What I predict will be covered is:
  • How to get started. (Connecting Wiimote via Bluetooth and some other stuff)
  • Running your Wiimote independent of your Wii (even when it's on). 
  • Modding your Wii sensor bar to use an external power supply.
  • How the Wiimote works.
I might have some other things. This is just what I am planning on doing. 

WiimoteIR #1 v.1.0

Directions for setting up the script is included in the scripts comments.

What's included in WiimoteIR #1 version 1.0:
  • Script does not continue if it does not detect Wiimote.
  • Wiimote LEDs will flash back and forth twice telling the user Wiimote is detected and mouse control will start. 
  • A and B buttons can be easily changed. (Instructions included in script)
Key Map:
  • D-pad = Scroll Wheel
  • A button = Left Click
  • B button = Right Click
  • 1 button = Launch On-screen Keyboard

Please copy paste the entire script into GlovePIE and save.

WiimoteIR #1 version 1.0 (Script):



Version Specific FAQ:

Question:
My cursor moves in the opposite direction!
Answer:
First, you will have to figure out which axis is reversed. Is the X-axis (◄ ►) reversed? Or is it the Y-axis (▲ ▼) reversed?

If the X-axis is reversed, find the line that says...



and replace it with...



If the Y-axis is reversed, find the line that says...



and replace it with...



Now go try out your script again. You cursor should no longer be reversed. If both axis is reversed, do both of those fixes.

LED Flashing Script (Back and Forth)

Anyways, for the time being, while you guys wait for my WiimoteIR script to be finished and released, here is a little Glovepie script you can play around with to get the LEDs on your Wiimote to flash back and forth. :P

There are several values you can change in this script. (I tell you in the comments.) If you are not using wiimote1, change that value into the wiimote you are using. The best way to check which one you are using is to run the script and see if the LEDs flash. If not, your Wiimote is either not connected correctly, or you got the wrong Wiimote. The 50 ms part of the script can also be changed. The 50 ms is the delay for how long and LED should be on or off. Decrease the number for faster and increase the number for slower.

Here is the light pattern:
○●●●
●○●●
●●○●
●●●○
●●○●
●○●●
and it repeats.

Here is the script:


Current Script (05-23-2011 10:15 AM PST)

The current script will not work for everyone. This is the script I was testing for my 1080p TV. The resolution of it is 1920 x 1080. If you happen to have a monitor of the same resolution, you can get started with the script! (Not recommended) The current script is not designed to work on all computers yet and every Wiimote may vary slightly in its output. The script also lacks comments that tell you what each line does, so better to not mess around with it. :)

I will be converting this script into something easier to use for "beginners". Please stay tuned. I am posting this to prove to you I do have a working script right now and I am not lying. :P I have added some safety features on this script too. This script will not continue to run unless it detects a Wiimote when you first start up the script. Once the script detects a Wiimote, the LEDs on your Wiimote will flash 1, 2, 3, 4, 3, 2, 1 twice telling you the Wiimote has been detected and the mouse controls are about to start. This all takes about 5 seconds, it is barely noticeable. ROFL

Keymap:
  • D-pad = scrolling
  • A button = Left Click
  • B button = Right Click
  • 1 button = Execute On-screen Keyboard

Here is the current script: