Wii sensor bar hack - Make your Wiimote aim accurately and work with widescreen tv's

David Hawley 21:56 10th October 2007

last updated: 21:56 10th October 2007

Slashdot It!  Digg It!   Share on Facebook!   Share on del.icio.us!

Overview

Add a new 'near' mode to your wii sensor bar, with a switch to switch between modes.

After using the distance calculator I discovered I needed a new sensor bar about 7cm long. So why make a new one when you can modify the original?

What you need

I will update this with diagrams and workings but basically the sensor bar is a parallel circuit combining 2 series circuits containing a resistor and 5 Infra Red LED's. The power wire from the wii provides about 7V. So what I did was to add another circuit containing another 2 Infra Red LED's, the resistor, and an indicator LED. The switch switches between the original circuit and the new circuit.

What's the Point?

As I need a 7cm sensor bar I can make holes in the sensor bar and put it the 2 new Infra Red LED's so the sensor bar will appear further away to the wii remote so we can use it about 30cm from the tv. The indicator LED is just used to that I know whether it's in 'near' mode or normal.

Procedure

  1. Take the sensor bar apart - using the triwing screwdriver to undo the 6 screws. Beware 2 are hidden behind pads that need removing.
  2. Drill/cut/melt holes - Cut holes in the black front of the sensor bar for the 2 Infra Red LED's, the indictaor light (if required) and the switch being used.
  3. Solder the circuit together - Solder the circuit together and make sure it works.
  4. Re-assemble the sensor bar - Screw the sensor bar together and test it out!.

Below is my sensor bar. This had to be taken with a digial camera to be able to see the LED's as they are Infra Red (invisible to human eyes). The green icon shows the position of the switch.