Is using a Wii Remote for driving a robot legal? According to the rule book (specifically rules 61 and 62 from Section 4.1.9):
R61
All signals must originate from the OPERATOR CONSOLE and be transmitted to the ROBOT via the ARENA network.
R62
No form of wireless communication shall be used to communicate to, from, or within the ROBOT, except those required per R56 and R61 (e.g. radio modems from previous FIRST competitions and Bluetooth devices are not permitted on the ROBOT during competition).
But does this exclude a Wii Remote interfacing with the driver station computer and not with the robot directly? Any clarification appreciated!
The Operator Console section is just as important as (and, seeing as you are asking about the Operator Console, even more applicable than) the Control, Command, & Signals System section, and has the following nugget:
R94
Other than the system provided by the ARENA, no other form of wireless communications shall be used to communicate to, from, or within the OPERATOR CONSOLE.
(emphasis mine)
I don’t think I need to elaborate on this.
Obligatory note about how this may or may not change for 2014.
My mistake: I didn’t read that far for some reason…
But now that I look at rule 94:
R94
Other than the system provided by the ARENA, no other form of wireless communications shall be used to communicate to, from, or within the OPERATOR CONSOLE.
Examples of prohibited wireless systems include, but are not limited to, active wireless network cards and Bluetooth devices. For the case of FRC, a motion sensing input device (e.g. Microsoft Kinect) is not considered wireless communication and is allowed.
So if the Kinect is legal, is the Wii Remote then also legal?
What is the difference between a Kinect and a WiiMote?
For a comparison, let’s use an XBox wireless controller instead of a WiiMote. Same console as a Kinect… but when you’re using the Kinect, where is it, how is it connected, and what is moving? When you’re using the XBox controller, where is it, how is it connected, and what is moving?
Now that you’ve thought about that for a minute, the answers for the Kinect are that it’s on a flat surface near the console (or on the console), it’s wired to the console, and you the player are moving to control the game. For the XBox controller, it’s in your hands, it’s wirelessly connected to the console, and you are moving the controls and/or controller to control the game.
Now replace the XBox controller with the Wii Remote again.
Both are illegal–remember, I specifically called for a wireless XBox controller. But… what if I plug in the wireless XBox controller and disable the wireless function? Now I have a legal configuration for controlling the robot.
The Wii remote communicates over Bluetooth. I don’t think there is a way around this fact (short of modifying the device), thus ruling it out as a legal input device.
If you’re looking for motion tracking, I believe the Cypress I/O module has a built in accelerometer. You might be able to use that as a starting point for a custom input device.
I see now! I was confused as to how the Kinect worked with the control system. The motion tracking sensor connects through USB to the driver station computer anyway. So there is no argument for the Wii Remote.