Comments on: Wii don’t need no stinkin’ sensor bar

By: wulfen

wulfen — Mon, 05 Sep 2011 06:07:48 +0000

Quick story about making an emergency replacement for the Wii IR Sensor bar.
While on vacation, we forgot to bring our Wii IR sensor bar with us. All we needed the Wii for was the Netflix movie app this time … so, we tried to have one person set up two Sony remote controls on top of the TV pointing back at the viewers. We had one person press “Volume Down” simultaneously on both Sony remotes. This allowed us to “roughly” navigate the Wii Menu to get to the Netflix Application launcher using the controller. The pointer was very jumpy, but it worked.
So in conclusion, two IR sources do work as a sensor bar replacement – but more specific definition needs to be given to signal, frequency, distance apart, angle apart, etc to really nail a perfect IR Bar replacement.

By: Kygon

Kygon — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 23:24:24 +0000

The wiimote contains a gyroscopic sensor it detects its angle. While the sensor bar just detects the distance of the wiimote and if its angle is pointing towards the sensor’s “screen” area (“screen” because its what the sensor thinks is the screen). The wii is pretty fail the sensor bar isn’t all that necessary, were i the programmer behind the wiimote mechanics i’d just make a configuration setting that asks the player to point towards the screen to find where the screen is, instead of making some cost inefficient infrared bar. However the wii is lame and the sensor bar is required to point at the screen therefore you cannot navigate the menu without the sensor bar.

By: Wii Hacker

Wii Hacker — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 16:50:56 +0000

This is a pretty interesting find and come open up some hacks with the Wii remote.

By: yoni

yoni — Wed, 30 Dec 2009 21:36:49 +0000

The remote for the tv isnt even connected to the wii

By: Princessb89

Princessb89 — Tue, 19 May 2009 04:51:25 +0000

If this is true, why when you point the wiimote at the screen, the aim is offset and you have to compensate. Like you can’t look down the scope of a wiimote and have it aim at that area of the sceen.

By: Adam

Adam — Mon, 22 Dec 2008 23:42:23 +0000

Dude you are a fuckin genius. You just saved me from an entire week of boredom since I’m at my gf’s house over Christmas
Cheers!

By: ddawg40

ddawg40 — Fri, 05 Dec 2008 15:00:27 +0000

ok so im not a techie but i am more confused then ever i dont have a sensor bar and my wii dont work any ideas? it turns on but it doesnt respond to the remote

By: mattsgreat5

mattsgreat5 — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 21:52:21 +0000

the sensor bar is to see where u point at the screen. the remote has the sensor in it. i tried it without the sensor barand it works fine. u just cant point at the screen and click on things. the buttons use bluetooth. so does the sensor.

By: Deathcapt

Deathcapt — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 00:35:16 +0000

I suck, I posted without reading…

By: deathcapt

deathcapt — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 18:07:28 +0000

It works with Candles,

By: jimmyb

jimmyb — Fri, 27 Apr 2007 00:48:02 +0000

HA!!!!!
i came up with a better way to play the wii w/out the two remote controls!!! simply change the sensitivity setting to 5,then light two candles and place them on top or below your tv. now u have your homemade, wireless, nonelectric, battery-free sensors!!!!

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 03 Jan 2007 21:27:14 +0000

Guys–You realize that some Wii games don’t really use the sensor bar, right? Excite truck sends all its signals right from the remote. It detects tilt left and right and doesn’t care about the sensor. Games like boxing, and the other Wii sports use the sensor bar. I can’t watch the video currently, (at work), but game are they using to demonstrate this concept?

By: Duncan C

Duncan C — Wed, 06 Dec 2006 04:18:01 +0000

Extending the cable on a sensor bar:

I modified the sensor bar for my kids' Wii so the wire was long enough for the sensor bar to reach our theater's screen to the Wii at the back of the room. I ordered a "tripoint" tool from the web to unscrew those stupid 3 point screws on Nintendos, opened up the sensor bar, de-soldered the existing wire, and soldered in a short length of telephone wire. I then put 3.5 mm (1/8") audio plugs on both the new cable from the sensor bar and the old wire that connects to the Wii. Finally, I created a long (~10m, or 30 ft) extension cable that had a male 3.5 mm audio plug on one end and a female plug on the other end.

I was careful to wire everything "tip positive" so I didn't reverse the polarity on the sensor bar.

I tucked the long cable between the molding and the carpet along the wall of the theater, out of sight and out of the way.

If my kids want to move the Wii into another room, they can just unplug both ends from the extension cable and plug the short cable back together.

I also bought a 12 volt power supply from Radio Shack, and fitted it with a 3.5 mm plug. I can plug that directly into the sensor bar (making sure the polarity is "tip positive" like all the connections I made) and run the sensor bar from the power supply, without any connections to the Wii.

Here's a small photo gallery showing the sensor bar and my finished rig:

http://www.pbase.com/duncanc/wii_sensor_bar_hack

By: Phicons

Phicons — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 15:03:11 +0000

Surely how the wii works is obvious to most hackers, it was clear from the first day they mentioned the need for the sensor (IR) bar – cheap yaw/horizontal movement stability.
It is exciting when you discover how something works though so im with them on that!

By: andy

andy — Tue, 28 Nov 2006 22:57:02 +0000

Here is a link showing it works

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULZ8Gd06Kqg