[OSM-talk] Cheap gyro sensor using Nintendo Wii handset?

[SteveC]

These cheap things are only accurate over small distances and/or large 
forces, depending on the velocity and integral time. Someone used one to 
try to map underground stations but the integral error at the bottom of 
the escalator was larger than the escalator...



Petter Reinholdtsen wrote:
> Mapping tunnels with a GPS is not very easy, as the GPS can't get a
> satellite lock under ground.  One solution to this is to add a gyro
> sensor (accelerometers) to the GPS, to track relative movements under
> ground, and use the GPS position to fix that movement to the GPS grid.
> But it hasn't been cheap to get a GPS with included accelerometers,
> and I am not sure if anyone have tried such equipment with OSM yet.
> 
> While discussing this problem the other day, it occurred to my
> girlfriend, that the Nintendo Wii handset contain such accelerometers,
> and a Bluetooth transmitter as well.  The handset can be used with a
> Linux machine, so by using a GPS, a Wii handset and a linux laptop,
> one should be able to implement a motion tracking OSM data collector
> in a car.
> 
> I found <URL:http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Motion_analysis> analysing
> the values reported by the Wii accelerometers.  The only unknown is if
> the Wii is sensible enough to detect the movement as the car is
> moving.
> 
> Instructions to interface it to linux is available from
> <URL:http://www.wiili.org/index.php/Wiimote>.
> 
> Did anyone test this yet?  I'll try to get hold of such remote to test
> it, but it might take a while before I get a car to drive into the
> tunnels. :)
> 
> Friendly,

-- 
have fun,

SteveC steve at asklater.com http://www.asklater.com/steve/