An interdisciplinary school project using a Nintendo Wii controller for measuring car speed

Abstract

This work examines the feasibility of employing a Nintendo Wii game controller for measuring car speed in an interdisciplinary school project. It discusses the physical characteristics of the controller and of vehicle headlights. It suggests how an experiment may be linked to topics in mathematics, statistics, physics and computer science. An algorithm for calculating speed from repeated recordings of car headlights is provided. Finally the results of repeated experiments with an approaching car are provided. These articles all aim mainly at demonstrating how Wiimotes can replace commercial data loggers, and use a black box approach to the software. This work however, demonstrates how a Wiimote can be used to perform an outdoor experiment not achievable by commercial data loggers. It uses a white box approach to the software, facilitating an interdisciplinary student project, joining topics from physics, mathematics and computer science. IntroductionIt is based on the fact that ordinary tungsten car headlights emit near-IR, thus ought to be detectible by the Wiimote IR camera. When the distance between the headlights of private cars is known, as well as the focal length of the Wiimote camera, the distance of a car can be calculated using similar triangles. By repeated measurements, the average speed of an approaching car can be determined and displayed.IR-sources, types of IR, elementary remote sensing and more generally radio wave communication, such as the Wiimote Bluetooth communication, are topics that may be linked to this experiment. Programming skills may be challenged through developing the GlovePIE script, where the use of a finite state machine is recommended. Application of mathematics is required in calculating distance by Pythagoras and similar triangles, and computing average speed from recorded distances. A lesson may also be complemented through production of charts of statistical data, and the working limitations of the equipment open for discussion in project work.