[dorkbotbmore-blabber] Using nunchuck

[Joel J.]

Hi Les,

My first time posting to the list as well--I've been lurking for most
of the Spring, but have had Tuesday night classes ever since I found
out about Dorkbot (and will continue to do so through the summer at
least.  Maybe in the autumn I'll be able to make it to a meeting ^_^)

Anyway, I've been looking at combining Nunchucks and Arduino and it
looks like there's some great information out there.  First off, to
learn more about how the Nunchucks actually work, check out the WiiLi
site about them:
http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Wiimote/Extension_Controllers/Nunchuk

The WiiChuck library was put together to greatly simplify working with
the Nunchuck and the Arduino:
http://www.arduino.cc/playground/Main/WiiChuckClass (as far as I can
tell that's the latest version)  That page has both the library and
enough other example code that it should be a good place for you to
start and tinker a bit and adapt to see how it works (though that'll
depend on your level of programming ability and which languages you
know enough about to be dangerous ;-) )

Finally, you'll either need to clip off the Nunchuck's connector to
actually get at the wires, or make or buy an adapter.  The WiiLi site
tells you which pins and wires do what (see the "Connector" section),
and Tod Kurt has created adapters.  You can find out more about them
and where to get them (and other good information on Nunchuck +
Arduino) at his blog:
http://todbot.com/blog/2008/02/18/wiichuck-wii-nunchuck-adapter-available/

Good luck!
Joel


On Thu, May 14, 2009 at 7:10 AM,  <lesliebradley at comcast.net> wrote:
>
> This is my first attempt to post something to the site.  Hope I'm doing it
> correctly.  Les Bradley
>
> In response to Adam:
>
> I just bought a nunchuck, based on a tip from a person at the recent
> robotfest, to gain access to some accelerometers.
>
> I thought I had the magic screwdriver bit to open the nunchuck, but no.  So,
> I'll obtain a driver so I can look inside.  But, I would love to know how
> you are interfacing nunchuck with Arduino.  Maybe I don't need to take the
> device apart!
>
> I do not have a wii or any software that would work.  I can take a look at
> the processing.org site you cite.  An engineer friend told me he came across
> a site that had complete schematics for the wii; he's trying to recall where
> he saw them.
>
> Please do bring your setup to the next meeting.  Obviously, I'm most
> interested in working with the output of the accelerometers; using the
> nunchuck's other controls would be a plus, too.
>
> I'm not a programmer, but I can probably adapt a Squeak, Smalltalk, or
> similar file to do some different things.  I've just begun studying Squeak.
>
> Les Bradley
>
> ........................................................................
> .........dorkbot: people doing strange things with electricity..........
> ......................... http://dorkbot.org ...........................
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