Wiimote Measures Acceleration

[english version]

Data acquisition from the accelerometer is one part of wiimote applications for PC. The tri-axis accelerometer sensor allows typical[1] measurement ranges of +/- 5g (At least a minimum range is ensured in the worst case : +/-3g)

fWIIne[2] is very convenient for scientific applications users because they can perform acquisition, visualization and signal processing with one tool.

Other applications are also existing in order to perform acquisition of accelerometer values. Even if they are more or less convenient, they are interesting :

1. To compare and validate data from acquisition with fWIIne.

2. To analyse new experiments and to optimize or to include new features for fWIIne with Matlab and Scilab.

3. To use smartest and less complex applications, if possible.

Indeed, efficiency and CPU load are functions of implementation inside drivers and libraries about final user applications. Motion sensor analysis may be the main task for CPU usage. The following graph illustrates several sofware abstraction layer for Wii Remote-PC applications :

[Software abstraction layer for wii remote - PC applications]

Here, this description was given :

- to underline the difference between all applications and drivers availalble on the Internet.

- To understand that efficiency is a compromise between specific applications (faster but less evolutive) and some "standardized" applications (heavier, already existing but more adjustable)

Here, there is no need for a deeper description of software architecture for the user who wants to make data acquisition, only. So let's have the look at the softwares :

First, the main features for specific applications are : acquisition and visualization. The signal processing is already embedded inside both functions and cannot be modified :

Description	Comment
ChronoGPS -- This application was designed for acquisition of power and speed characteristics on a car (GPS data recorded (GPS Lap Timer 5 Hz GPS compatible). The application includes data from accelerometer (WiTilt module ou Wiimote) and OBD (On-Board Diagnostic) from the vehicle. [ChronoGPS acquisition]	Mainly, this application was made for PDA (the wiimote is used with a PC, exclusively). Here, it is interesting to see an application with data from GPS and accelerometer, together. OS : Microsoft for PC and PDA Lang. : French+English Date : The Wiimote is supported from version 3 (2007-09-23) Author : Sébastien GUCHET
Wii Chicago 'L' Data Visualization -- The application Wii Chicago 'L' Data was created in order to record acceleration and jerk (derivative of acceleration) from passengers of elevated train of Chicago. 2 applications are described : - first, the recorder Recorder: Application Recorder: SourceCode - then, the viewer Viewer: Application Viewer: Source Code [acquisition form elevated train of Chicago]	The acquisition process is very well described. Understanding the limitations of such a kind of long-time recording is very interesting, here. OS : Windows XP Lang. : English Date : 2007-April Author : Brian Uphoff Electronic Visualizations Laboratory CS Graduate College University of Illinois @ Chicago
DarwiinRemote -- Darwiin remote allows the visualization (on-the-fly) of accelerometer changes. But recording and having a range of values are not available.	OS : OS X Lang : English, Japanese Link - Source
Wiinremote -- Same features as DarwiinRemote for WinXP	OS : WinXP Link English -Japanese

Then, other applications are more standardized and allow the configuration of the 3 functions : acquisition, signal processing, visualization. Nevertheless, they require an other application as support to fulfill all features :

Description	Comment
Dataplots -- Dataplots makes data acquisition from accelerometer. The sources codes are based on libwiimote library. First, an program (test5) refrehs data. The output data flow is redirected to other programs to visualize accelerometer values (dataplot, dataplot3D) and to display with gnuplot, too.	Smart is beautiful. Here, as indicated in the title – small programs for the wiimote - these litlle applications works properly. OS : Linux Lang. : French Date : 2008-02-05 Author : Student Association esiea-labs.net – R&D Junior's club
GlovePIE -- The application GlovePIE for data acquisition from acceleromter uses a little script to record values. Then an other software – Excel – visualize and processes the values. GlovePIE, Excel et OpenCalc are well-known and standardized tools. So, using both software is easy for new users.	For its simplycity of use, the software was described several times [3] . Remark: The developer analysis will not be discussed, here. The interpretation is under the responsability of the developer. OS : WinXP Lang. : English Date : 2007-07-28 Author : (pseudo) klee An other Test with the wiimote displaying values with OpenCalc. Same remark, here : The developer analys will not be discussed, here. The interpretation is under the responsability of the developer. Lang. : French Date : 2008-01-30 Author : (pseudo) Juan
WiiWatcher -- An other way of acquiring and visualizing wiimote values with Excel [sample result] Link - Source	OS : WinXP Lang. : English Date : 2007-08-29 Author : (pseudo) kudzu
fWIIne -- No need to describe the MEX/function commands, more. This is the main theme of this blog. Just 2 videos : (Vidéo 1) This video is an sample of Matlab-like application (with visualization on-th-fly) (Vidéo 2) fWIIne with Scilab provides, here, acceleration measurements from a vehicle.	Globally, the use of scientific software such as Matlab, Scilab or Labview brings together the three main functions : acquisition, visualization on-the-fly, signal processing.

[1] Based on typical values from Analog Device component ADXL330

[2] fWIIne is the command for WinXP applications and fwiine for Linux. Here, to simplify, fWIIne will refer to the commands/libraries for both operating systems..

[3] Engadget - Ubergizmo - Make - Hackaday

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Vidéo 1 :

[Wiimote on PC acceleration reading from Youtube marcan42 (pseudo)/Spain/2006-11-29 ]

[Interface between the Wiimote and a Matlab-like application]

Video 2 :

[read acceleration data from wiimote (fwiine + scilab) from YouTube 2008-03-27]

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Update - 2008-09-11 : ChronoGPS links