How to Make a Wireless Nintendo Wii Sensor Bar.

by Game Master

45K2270

Intro: How to Make a Wireless Nintendo Wii Sensor Bar.

this is my first instructable and im going to show you How to make a Wireless Nintendo Wii Sensor Bar.

STEP 1: Materials.

For this instructabel you will need:-

1. x2 Infra Red LEDs
2. x1 60 Ion Resistor
3. About 5-6 inches of Wire.
4. x1 Switch
5. x1 4 "AAA" Battery Case

Here are this number's if you want to buy them from Radio-Shack:-

IR Leds - 276-143
"AAA" case - 270-414
Switch - 275-407 or 275-406
60 Ion Resistor - Im not sure but there quite easy to find

STEP 2: The Circuit

This is the most trickest thing in the whole wide world to make this circuit but it is, just, possiable.
make sure the Leds are facing the opposite way to the way i have drawn them, Sorry.

STEP 3: The Looks

This is What I made mine Like... (for this instructable you will need two)

STEP 4: Finished

See that didnt take long Now all you have to do is pop some batterys in and away you go just position it under you telly and your off..

71 Comments

AbranD5 6 years ago

In Immaculata's Roboticz and autocad and Electronics Lab, I will build a Sensor Brick And I Require:

1. x2 Infra Red LEDs
2. x1 100 OHM Resistor
3. About 5-6 inches/millimeters of Wire.
4. x1 Switch
5. x1 4 "AAA" Battery Case

BlueJaunte 17 years ago

I don't get it. Don't Wii's come with a sensor bar?

Game Master 17 years ago

yeah it does but the wire is only about a meter long, so if your useing a projector its a real pain in the arse.

hondaman900 13 years ago

Nice I'ble. Well done for your first. There's a new version of this as a project on Kickstarter
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1621263610/the-megabar-free-your-wiitm
Seems to be a more complete system. I like their father-son kit idea.

ThawedHead 13 years ago

Nice instructable. The Radio Shack parts numbers help. I modified your design by using a 4 AAA battery case instead of a 2. I re-routed the battery circuits to only use two batteries. I then used one of the empty battery slots to house the 4x15 ohm resistors (couldn't find a 60 ohm one). In the other battery slot, I put holes for the two IR LEDs. This approach made it all nice and contained. It works like a charm.

shakespeare1212 13 years ago

Great concept but if you will check out my website, I think that you will see that I have created a better looking unit out of a burglar window alarm. I found these little guys at Dollar Tree, and they gave me a slider switch, great battery holder and batteries all ready to go. I did was drill a couple of holes, wired together two LEDs and a resistor and soldered the wires to the switch and battery. This IR source, as I call it, is also quite useful with Smoothboard 2.0, a Wii Interactive Whiteboard software, like a graphics tablet on steriods, or a super way to browse YouTube vids, from your couch. I'm James. Any question can be sent to james@whaleboneir.com


http://whaleboneir.com/ir_source_sale.html

http://whaleboneir.com/ir_%20source%20demovid.html

qwerty987 14 years ago

i found out that if you have a 4 light ceiling fan it will work too.

xMIKEABx 14 years ago

cat ate through my sensor bar too .... got a new sensor bar... i miss that cat though

qwerty987 14 years ago

my cat chewed through mine to my brother will probably kill the cat.  is it any good.

xsammymanx 14 years ago

worst electronics diagram/shematic ever

Robot Lover 14 years ago

the only reason the sensor bar plugs into the wii is for power. if it ran on batteries it would. i did this once with my dad. also if you position the wii remote in the sensor bar position than you can use the sensor bar as a cursor for the wii.

markyb86 14 years ago

cat keeps eating my friends cord so now that hes on the 3rd one I just took a 9volt battery connector and soldered it to the board on the original sensor bar, cost? free. took the connector from the inside of my alarm clock. who uses that feature anyway?

alphamale962 14 years ago

If i was the one doing this i would just use the original wii assembly, and just snip the wires, using a multi meter find the voltage of the wires, and then get a battery pack, a switch, and a resistor, saves ya about 4 bucks when you buy from radioshack, plus it looks well presented, nice idea, but i always say, think things through multiple times, make a desicion, and find a simpler way...

seripj 15 years ago

Just use two tea light candles, place them about the length of the sensor bar apart. all that the sensor bar does is send out an ifrared light to the wiimote so that the wiimote can determine distance and tilt, and the wiimote sends that information to the wii via bluetooth. The only reason the sensor bar has a wire is to take power from the wii in order to powers the LEDs. The flame from the candle sends out IR light that the wiimote picks up. This would probably be cheaper than making a wireless sensor bar see as you can buy a bag of about 100 tea for $5.

shawdow5739 14 years ago

he is absolutely right, my friend tried this when some tea light candles were screwing with his wiimote so we just took out the sensor bar stuck some candles on top of his tv and lit them. it worked exactly like the sensor bar (and didnt have tangled wires!!!)

schetleft 16 years ago

can't you just take the sensor bar that came with the wii, cut the cable, measure the voltage, and wire it up to the correct battery voltage?
More Comments