WiiLab: Bringing Together the Nintendo WiiMote and MATLAB

WiiLab Extension - RET 2009

A Research Experience for Teachers at Notre Dame (RET) Summer 2009

Note: Original WiiLab page will be restored shortly

Advisor: Dr. Aaron Striegel

As of 2006 50 million Wii Consoles have been sold. Each Console comes with a Nintendo Wii Remote Controller that is equipped with Bluetooth capabilities. The Wii Controller also has an infrared camera that responds to infrared light. In the summer of 2008, two students in the Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU), Jordan Brindza, and Jessica Szweda created WiiLab. WiiLab contains all the basic programs needed to create games in MATLAB using the Wii Controller.

In the summer of 2009, two REU students Mark Overholt and Simon Zhang continued developing games that require the use of the Wii Controller. Mark and Simon created, _The decision Recording Framework for Nintendo WiiMote Interactions. The WiiLab project had an additional member, a local high school teacher Juanita Gerard. Juanita joined Mark and Simon on the WiiLab project to assist with suggestions on how the Wii Controller could be used in the classroom.

The premise of the WiiMote research is to continue to develop a class structure that would encourage self-efficacy among the students in the Notre Dame Engineering Class: Into to Engineering Systems 1- via MATLAB. The WiiLab project brought together two amazing programmers with a passion for their work and patience to help others. The REU students brought a positive dynamic to the WiiLab project. The program Circle-Draw-Project was both a challenging and a frustrating program to write in MATLAB. The program worked up to pressing the B on the controller. The Circle-Draw-Project is not fully functional and is left for others to look at and perhaps correct.

• Circle_MatLab.pdf: Circle-Draw-Project

• MatLab_RET.pdf: PowerPoint? Presentation

• story_problems2.pdf: Story Problems

• WiiLab_J_Gerard.pdf: Final Paper

• circle_draw_project.zip: Zipped MATLAB Files to download

*Juanita Gerard

*jteachk12@att.net

Resources

• Connecting the Wiimote
• Installing the Framework
• Decision Database
• Graphic User Interface Generator
• Basic Tutorials
• Game Replay
• Sample Games

Funded by the College of Science at Notre Dame and the National Science Foundation -- JuanitaGerard - 07 Aug 2009