Wii Nunchuck Questions...[Edited]

[Adam G]

[info]Well...I just got two original NES controllers on ebay and I want to mod one, if not both of them. Some of you may recall, most of you wont, how I planned to put an NES controller into a Wii Nunchuck to create a one-handed NES controller.[/info]
How much should I be willing to pay for a Wii Nunchuck? On ebay they generally go for roughly $20...does this sound reasonable, or should wait for a better deal?


EDIT

I want to make sure, as I haven't seen the inside of a Nunchuck yet, can anyone confirm if the joystick uses analog or digital (I think
I worded that right...)?...thinking about it now...it's digital, isn't it? =\

EDIT

Found this and there may be hope for me?

...the analog stick motion control...

I'm so confused...

EDIT

Also found this:

...I wonder how the analogue stick...

More hope?...

[palmertech]

the nunchuck is analog, not digital. sorry.

[palmertech]

the nunchuck is analog, not digital. sorry.

[vskid]

How much should I be willing to pay for a Wii Nunchuck? On ebay they generally go for roughly $20...does this sound reasonable, or should wait for a better deal?

They're $20 in stores, so....

As a general rule, if theres steps to what it can do (like moving an analog stick just a bit and your character walks, move it more and they'll run, or pushing the buttons on newer systems to accelerate), its analog. If its all or nothing (push a button on a racing game and its like flooring it), its digital. With the nunchuck, you tilt it a bit and the Wii registers it as a little, tilt it more and it registers more tilt, which is analog. This isn't a rule, it depends on the game/system/settings, but its generally that way.

[Adam G]

So...I need digital...not analog?
Well...hopefully I wont win either of those ebay auctions. ebay's system is flawed and caused me to big on two. (imho, it's their coding error, not my fault. Note: When using bid assistant, don't attempt to include items you're already bidding on.)

Is there any way I can get it to work the way I need it? Simple, mind you, not some out-of-this-world contraption that's twice as big as the original.

[palmertech]

i cant post a link from my phone, but look on acidmods. they have a tutorial on how to make analog digital. it was intennded to replace the right face buttons on a psp with an analog stick. i wil post link tomorrow.

[vskid]

i cant post a link from my phone, but look on acidmods. they have a tutorial on how to make analog digital. it was intennded to replace the right face buttons on a psp with an analog stick. i wil post link tomorrow.

Ya, thats a possibility. Just depends on what kind of system the nunchuck uses for the accelerometers, its possible they are built into a chip that handles the nunchucks signals.

Now that I think about it, I've seen several game boys and DS's that have been modded with digital tilt sensors (I believe some use mercury in tubes, the mercury flows and completes the circuit). I'm sure you can find something about it on Google, and it'll work for what you want to do.

[Adam G]

i cant post a link from my phone, but look on acidmods. they have a tutorial on how to make analog digital. it was intennded to replace the right face buttons on a psp with an analog stick. i wil post link tomorrow.

Ya, thats a possibility. Just depends on what kind of system the nunchuck uses for the accelerometers, its possible they are built into a chip that handles the nunchucks signals.

Now that I think about it, I've seen several game boys and DS's that have been modded with digital tilt sensors (I believe some use mercury in tubes, the mercury flows and completes the circuit). I'm sure you can find something about it on Google, and it'll work for what you want to do.

and it'll work for what you want to do.

How does this have to do with what I want to do? I don't need nor want the accelerometer to be working, just to wire to the joystick to work as the NES d-pad...unless you were talking to palmertech?

[vskid]

Ohhhhh, nevermind then. For some reason I thought you wanted to use the accelerometers to control motion. That analog to digital thing palmer was talking about is what you need to use the analog as a d-pad.

[Adam G]

http://www.acidmods.com/forum/index.php?topic=3177

Is that the tutorial you were referring to, palmertech? If so, it's not much of a tutorial.

[palmertech]

no, that is not it. I just spent like an hour looking for that tutorial, where is it? Luckily, i remember the basic idea. You take apart the potentiometers and cut the resistive disc into two parts with a common ground. Because the disc is resistive, you might need to pull up the input on one of the pins. I tryed tp find that tut, i need it for my own prooject. I guess i will have to do it myself, and post a tut here! Do you understand what i said?

[codeman]

so basically you just want to use the nunchuck joystick to have the same effect as the d-pad of an NES controller? That shouldn't be too hard with a little extra circuitry. The joystick uses potentiometers to vary the output voltage depending on where the joystick is positioned. If you compare these voltage output values to the actual position of the joystick, you can determine what thresholds you want for each direction. You can then just set up a few comparators (schmitt triggers with a small hysteresis loop would be better) to look at the voltage levels at the joystick outputs and convert those voltages to the proper logic levels depending on the joystick position. If you do it right you can probably even get the upper right of the joystick to correspond to pushing the up and the right direction at the same time.

[palmertech]

That would work, but remember, he wants to do it the easy way with no circuitry. If he did not know the difference between analog and digital joysticks, i doubt he will be able to accomplish what you are talking about. That said, i think a tilt controller would be both easier and cooler. I will have to try one...

[codeman]

ha, well I'm an electronics geek, so cooler to me is anything that allows me to design a circuit to solve the problem!

[Adam G]

no, that is not it. I just spent like an hour looking for that tutorial, where is it? Luckily, i remember the basic idea. You take apart the potentiometers and cut the resistive disc into two parts with a common ground. Because the disc is resistive, you might need to pull up the input on one of the pins. I tryed tp find that tut, i need it for my own prooject. I guess i will have to do it myself, and post a tut here! Do you understand what i said?

Remove the resistance disks and bend the pins so the joystick must be pushed to create a connection, correct?

so basically you just want to use the nunchuck joystick to have the same effect as the d-pad of an NES controller? That shouldn't be too hard with a little extra circuitry. The joystick uses potentiometers to vary the output voltage depending on where the joystick is positioned. If you compare these voltage output values to the actual position of the joystick, you can determine what thresholds you want for each direction. You can then just set up a few comparators (schmitt triggers with a small hysteresis loop would be better) to look at the voltage levels at the joystick outputs and convert those voltages to the proper logic levels depending on the joystick position. If you do it right you can probably even get the upper right of the joystick to correspond to pushing the up and the right direction at the same time.

I feel that, if possible, I would like to keep it a little-less complicated. Your idea is basically, create a circuit that...if voltage >= x then complete circuit...(I'm more of a math/code person, )? "If you do it right you can probably even get the upper right of the joystick to correspond to pushing the up and the right direction at the same time.", something I hoped to do before realizing that the Nunchuck is analog.

That would work, but remember, he wants to do it the easy way with no circuitry. If he did not know the difference between analog and digital joysticks, i doubt he will be able to accomplish what you are talking about. That said, i think a tilt controller would be both easier and cooler. I will have to try one...

I feel I understand it well enough, but I don't feel I have access to the correct circuitry. I knew nothing about "schmitt triggers" before his post and I now know very little about them.

ha, well I'm an electronics geek, so cooler to me is anything that allows me to design a circuit to solve the problem!

I'm more of a "limited-resource low-income geek".