Cheap Accelerometer with the Wii Nunchuck

As you’re probably well aware, the wiimote and nunchuck have a vast array of sensors built into them. Instead of buying pre-assembled breakout board for $35, or attempting to solder a tiny surface mount accelerometer, learn to exploit the features of the Wii Nunchuck and have a fully assembled accelerometer, joystick, and pushbuttons for just $12.50 shipped (on ebay). Why use the nunchuck insead of the actual WiiMote? Wiimotes can be about $40 and have a lot of extra features you wont need at the moment. 1. The Nunchuck communicates through 6 bits of data. 2. If you don’t already have it, download the Arduino software (free). 3. By using the serial monitor of your Arudino software (or other serial monitoring software), you’ll see the above output. 4. Watching numbers steam in (step 3 image) is fine and dandy, but sometimes you just need something more to create a truly new perspective.

General Electronics-Tech There are many different forms of digital communication protocols and they differ based on application. I2C and SPI protocol are commonly recognized as ‘small protocol’ relative to such Ethernet, USB, SATA, PCI-E protocol bus and etc that their transmission rate is up to hundreds or thousands Mbits/s. However, we couldn’t forget the purpose of these kinds of protocols bus. ‘Big protocol’ is employed as communication between systems, ‘small protocols’ is used as communication between IC within systems. There is no evidence that ‘small protocols’ is replaced necessarily by these ‘big protocols’. Existence and flexibility of SPI and I2C reflect the idea of ‘Enough is enough’. I2C (pronounced I-squared-C) created by Philips Semiconductors(now NXP) and commonly written as “I2C” stands for Inter Integrated Circuit and allows communication of data between micro-controller and peripheral unit over two wires. Wire library is used to communicate with I2C devices. Arduino Master Program void loop()

“WiiChuck” Wii Nunchuck Adapter Available Want to hook up a Wii Nunchuck to an Arduino but don’t want to cut up the cord on your Nunchuck? Yeah me too. So I made some of these: It’s a small PCB that adapts the Wii Nunchuck connector to standard 4-pin header. Available from the following wonderful shops: - FunGizmos.com. One of the coolest things about the Wii (to me) is that the expansion port on the bottom of the Wii remote is an I2C serial connection. This “wiichuck adapter” let’s you play with the Wii Nunchuck and other Wii remote peripherals without needing you to cut cables. This is what it looks like plugged into the Nunchuck by itself. Nunchuck and Other I2C Devices (like BlinkM) You can use other I2C devices at the same time as the Nunchuck. And then you can plug in a BlinkM right on top. Software To make it a little easier to play with the Nunchuck, I made a little Nunchuck library for Arduino and demo: - nunchuck_funcs.h - WiichuckDemo.ino (Or better yet, check out the github repository for it all zipped up.

Mon clug elec View Edit Attributes History Attach Print Search Wiichuck Adapter (Free US Shipping) [I2C] - $4.00 : FunGizmos, make something fun! Free US Shipping! Want to hook up a Wii Nunchuck to an Arduino but don’t want to cut up the cord on your Nunchuck? Tod Kurt from ThingM made up a batch of these cool little addapters. It’s a small PCB that adapts the Wii Nunchuck connector to standard 4-pin header. Dubbed the “wiichuck adapter”. It plugs directly into the Arduino, no wiring necessary. One of the cool things about the Wii is that the expansion port on the bottom of the Wii remote is an I2C serial connection. This “wiichuck adapter” let’s you play with the Wii Nunchuck and other Wii remote peripherals without needing you to cut cables. Info: Free domestic shipping for this item! This product was added to our catalog on Thursday 05 June, 2008.

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