QWiimote - Nintendo Wiimote interactions for Qt / Symbian applications
This article explains how to interact with a Nintendo Wiimote on Symbian devices using QML.
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Introduction
The Wii Remote (also known as the "Wiimote"), is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate on-screen items on screen using gestures and pointing.
The Wiimote is expandable through the use of attachments like the "Nunchuk", which complement the Wii Remote by providing functions similar to those in gamepad controllers. Another attachment is the Wii MotionPlus which allows the Wii to more accurately capture complex motion (according to Nintendo, the sensor in the device supplements the accelerometer and Sensor Bar capabilities of the Wii Remote to enable actions to be rendered identically on the screen in real time).
Many tools have been developed to connect the Wiimote to other devices (instead of the Wii console). Most are targeted towards desktop applications, and have complex structure and code interfaces. Little work has been done in the mobile space, and most of that has focused on substituting the device event management with the controller events.
The Nintendo Wiiremote project delivers a simple QML wrapper to connect to the Nintendo Wiimote on a Symbian device and to get its raw data and events. This article explains how to get and use the QWiimote API.
Adding the library to your projects
Get the source
Download the QWiimote source from here
.pro
Add the following line to your application project (.pro) file to include QWiimote project files:
include(wiimote/wiimote.pri)
main.cpp
Includes and register QWiimote so that it can be used in your application QML:
#include <QtGui/QApplication>
#include "qmlapplicationviewer.h"
#ifdef QWIIMOTE
#include <QtDeclarative>
#include "wiimote/qwiimote.h"
#endif
Q_DECL_EXPORT int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
QScopedPointer<QApplication> app(createApplication(argc, argv));
#ifdef QWIIMOTE
// The following registers the C++ QWiimote to be used in QML as Wiimote
qmlRegisterType<QWiimote>("Wiimote", 1, 0, "Wiimote");
qmlRegisterType<QWiimoteAccelerometerData>("Wiimote", 1, 0, "WiimoteAccelerometerData");
qmlRegisterType<QWiimoteMotionPlusData>("Wiimote", 1, 0, "WiimoteMotionPlusData");
#endif
QmlApplicationViewer viewer;
viewer.setMainQmlFile(QLatin1String("qml/WiimoteDemo/main.qml"));
viewer.showExpanded();
return app->exec();
}
QML
Declare the Wiimote QML element:
import QtQuick 1.1
import com.nokia.symbian 1.1
import Wiimote 1.0
Page {
Wiimote {
id: wiimote
}
}
Connecting/ Device state management
Signals
- onPowerOn - Emitted when activating Bluetooth on your device
- onDeviceSelected - Emitted when selected an item/device from the Bluetooth system menu list. Returns device address
- onConnected - Emitted when connected to Wiimote
- onDisconnected - Emitted when disconnected from Wiimote
Slots
- start() - Activate Bluetooth on your device if needed and shows Bluetooth devices detected nearby. Is the first method to call in order to begin pairing operations.
Code snippet
import QtQuick 1.1
import com.nokia.symbian 1.1
import Wiimote 1.0
Page {
id: mainPage
Button {
text: "Start!"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.start();
}
Wiimote {
id: wiimote
onError : {
console.log("Error code:"+error)
}
onPowerOn : {
console.log("Bluetooth power error:"+error)
}
onDeviceSelected : {
console.log("Selected device :"+address)
}
onConnected : {
console.log("Connected to device")
wiimote.setLed(Wiimote.Led1)
}
onDisconnected : {
console.log("Disconnected from device")
Qt.quit();
}
}
}
Pairing devices
To pair your device with Wiimote you need to call the start() slot. Press together the Wiimote's 1 and 2 buttons in order to make it discoverable.
System's menu for discovered Bluetooth devices
Wiimote pairing buttons
Selected the Nintendo RVL-CNT-01 device the onDeviceSelected() and onConnected() signals are emitted.
Enabling actions
Once connected to device you can specify which kind of information you need.
- setLed(WiimoteLed led) - Sets the preferred Wiimote LED. Remember this operation needs to be made once the onConnected() signal is emitted
-
enum WiimoteLed {
Rumble = 0x01,
Led1 = 0x10,
Led2 = 0x20,
Led3 = 0x40,
Led4 = 0x80
};
-
- enableCoreButtons() - Wiimote send just information on pressed buttons
- enableCoreButtonsAndAccelerometer() - Wiimote sends information on pressed buttons and accelerometer
- enableMotionPlus() - Enables the Motion Plus device
- disableMotionPlus() - Disable the motion Plus device
- enableCoreButtonsAccelerometerExtention() - Wiimote sends information on pressed button, accelerometer and gyroscope inside Motion Plus device
Once connected the Wiimote sets the enableCoreButtons() action automatically. If you need other information like accelerometer notifications you need to call enableCoreButtonsAndAccelerometer() action.
To access to Motion Plus data ( the gyroscope ) you need to call enableCoreButtonsAccelerometerExtention() action, but be careful to call the enableMotionPlus() action first.
Buttons
QWiimote provides a set of signals in order to manage buttons pressed on Wiimote.
Signals
- buttonPressed(int button) - Manages all buttons and useful for double pressing management as shown into overview
- buttonLeft()
- buttonRight()
- buttonDown()
- buttonUp()
- buttonPlus()
- buttonTwo()
- buttonOne()
- buttonB()
- buttonA()
- buttonMinus()
- buttonHome()
When a button in pressed on Wiimote two signals are emitted, buttonPressed(int button) and the corresponding button's signal. For example if left button is pressed buttonPressed(int button) and buttonLeft() signal are emitted.
enum WiimoteButton {
ButtonLeft = 0x0100,
ButtonRight = 0x0200,
ButtonDown = 0x0400,
ButtonUp = 0x0800,
ButtonPlus = 0x1000,
ButtonHome = 0x0080,
ButtonMinus = 0x0010,
ButtonTwo = 0x0001,
ButtonOne = 0x0002,
ButtonB = 0x0004,
ButtonA = 0x0008
};
Code snippet
import QtQuick 1.1
import com.nokia.symbian 1.1
import Wiimote 1.0
Page {
id: mainPage
Button {
text: "Start!"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.start();
}
Button {
text: "Activate Buttons"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.enableCoreButtons()
}
Wiimote {
id: wiimote
onButtonPressed : {
console.log("pressed button: "+ button);
if( button === (Wiimote.ButtonA|Wiimote.ButtonB))
console.log("A + B pressed")
}
onButtonLeft : {
console.log("pressed left button");
}
onButtonRight : {
console.log("pressed right button");
}
onButtonUp : {
console.log("pressed up button");
}
onButtonDown : {
console.log("pressed down button");
}
onButtonHome : {
console.log("pressed home button");
}
onButtonA : {
console.log("pressed A button");
}
onButtonMinus : {
console.log("pressed Minus button");
}
}
Accelerometer
import QtQuick 1.1
import com.nokia.symbian 1.1
import Wiimote 1.0
Page {
id: mainPage
Button {
text: "Start!"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.start();
}
Button {
text: "Activate Buttons and Accelerometer"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.enableCoreButtonsAndAccelerometer()
}
Wiimote {
id: wiimote
onAccelerometerChanged: {
console.log(accelerometer.x)
console.log(accelerometer.y)
console.log(accelerometer.z)
}
}
}
Motion Plus
import QtQuick 1.1
import com.nokia.symbian 1.1
import Wiimote 1.0
Page {
id: mainPage
Button {
text: "Start!"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.start();
}
Button {
text: "Motion Plus"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.enableMotionPlus()
}
Button {
text: "Acceleration + Extension report"
anchors.horizontalCenter: parent.horizontalCenter
onClicked: wiimote.enableCoreButtonsAccelerometerExtention()
}
Wiimote {
id: wiimote
onExtentionControllerPlugged: {
console.log("ExtentionControllerPlugged");
}
}
}
Battery level
In order to retrieve battery information, you can use the battery property
import QtQuick 1.1
import com.nokia.symbian 1.1
import Wiimote 1.0
Page {
Wiimote {
id: wiimote
onConnected : {
wiimote.setLed(Wiimote.Led1)
console.log("Battery level"+wiimote.battery)
}
}
}
Further improvements
The project is still under development so while some features are already available (and almost frozen) others function are still coming. For example, gyroscope ( Motion Plus ) raw data acquisition is available in C++ but not yet for QML (at time of writing).
In the near future I plan to release:
- Motion Plus bind to QML
- Accelerometer and Gyroscope smooth data
- IR-Camera support
Summary
This article describes how to interact with Wiimote. For more information on hacking the remote, please refer to dedicated project's section : Wiimote Hacking
