. It was a Casio SK-5, notable in that it could hold up to four digital samples, recorded via the on-board mic or from a handheld to the mic port. One of the first things I did was take it apart. I wanted to know how it worked. I didn’t know what was what, but it sparked a life-long love of seeing the guts of gadgets.</p>
<p>The awesome nerds at Spark Fun have my sense of take-it-apart. But instead of something pedestrian, they fellows have disassembled one of the most popular and ground-breaking gadgets of the season: the Wiimote, layed naked, the way god intended.</p>
<p>I could talk about the science behind accelerometers and gyroscopes and photon ray beams and magic points, but I won’t, as I wouldn’t know where to start. This is an introduction to naked gear porn, which we call “hardcore”, and like most porno intros, it’s best if I shut up and you click the link. Come back and tell us how it was for you.</p>
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So cool. It’s hard to beat a techie article written by people who know what they’re talking about and good pictures. Now I want to get my own Wiimote and take it apart. It is amazing how clean breadboards can be when they are manufactured and well thought/layed out. It makes it look so clean and simple, props to Nintendo. I’m also surprised by how small the Wiimote is. I’ve never had a chance to play a Wii yet so I haven’t handled the Wiimote, but it looks pretty darn small in comparison to other remotes I’ve used.
Props again, and I love the great pictures! You can definitely read all the IC markings…
I’m was just like you when I was a kid. I have to ask… did you ever manage to put it back together again? One thing’s for sure, that review’s a hell of a lot more detailed then my examinations ever were. They rewired an pulled data off the EPROM? Jeez…
Looking at the parts, it looks like the accelerometer is the smallest part on the board! I was expecting some physical device that acutally swings when you move it to measure velocity (like a spring mounted something-or-rather). How the hell can an accelerometer be emulated using gates?
“Inside the chip is a small micromechanical structure which is supported by springs built out of silicon. Differential capacitance measurements allow the net displacement of the tiny mass to be converted to a voltage, which is then digitized. It is important to note that the sensor does not measure the acceleration of the Wiimote, but rather the force exerted by the test mass on its supporting springs.”
I’ve tried posting the link, but the censor board doesn’t let me post at all with the link.
Although I know a little techy from my years of watching Star Trek… this stuff is a bit over my head. Anybody wishing to write a non-technical version of this for the rest of us? If you write it in Klingon then you get some extra karma from me ;-)
I guess the reason it looks so clean Jon is that Nintendo took its time with this system… a lot of time… their engineering department realized what they where doing and made it as dummy proof as possible, getting rid of needless wires, wasted hardwares and any teleporters that skipped quality control.
Jon
Yeah that’s definitely true Jon. I was just comparing to my experiences at school building robots and the breadboards we turn out are hideous. Again, like you said, their circuits are well thought out and premade, so it doesn’t like like a squid monster from mars when they’re through with it.
Jon, have you ever seen pictures of the first generation imac when it came out… it looked like somebody puked electronic parts and quickly closed the case before everything fell out. The true quality of any electronic device isn’t in how it looks on the outside, but how it’s engineered on the inside (where people rarely visit). Engineers who take lots of pride in their work shine but sadly, very few of us see their work. As for me, I usually check out defunct gadgets with one swift hit of the hammer… those small screws drive me nuts! I can appreciate their work just as equally but don’t worry… I don’t put it back together again and bring it to Walmart for some kid to make national news. “Mom… I wanted porn but I got this piece of junk that doesn’t work” (ohhh… the pain!).
Jon
Taking things apart is definitely a guy thing, I remember my little brother used to take everything in the house apart; it would drive my mother crazy. When he got a little older he started to put most of what he took apart back together again. Hint: I’m talking to you Spark Fun!
Best wishes,
Kimmy
@ Jons:
I must insist you guys start using complimentary user names, as my head is about to asplode, and keeping you guys straight is killing me. Killing!
It’s easy to remember Matt – I am the funny Jon… the other Jon isn’t as funny ;-) It seems that with each replication… the humor seed degrades a bit.
Jon
do you have a wii i have 3 of them do you