Worklog Wii Motion++ (RetroPie+Raspberry Pi+Wiimote)

LRFPV

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Joined
Dec 11, 2021
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Hello, this is my first thread; so if I seem a bit out of place...I'm still learning haha!
This is a little project I call Wii Motion++
It's a Raspberry Pi running RetroPie and a 1.3 inch LCD shoved into a Wii Remote. Fully functional buttons (D-pad, 1, 2, A, B, and yes, even the power button acts as a software shutdown), 8+ hour battery life, and the ability to run pretty much any retro game out there (provided that it's compatible with RetroPie).
To get the inputs working, wires were soldered directly from the Wiimote PCB. There were some (I think) pullup resistors, so the PCB was cut at certain points to allow for a clean switch connection to ground. There were test points, which really helped with the soldering. However, the B button did not have anything, so the trace was scraped away to exposed the copper in the PCB.
Unfortunately, I did not have a lion charging chip or board, so the battery output is routed out of the (former) Nunchuck connector in the form of an XT-30 connector. This allows the battery to be charged via any hobby charger (since I fly FPV and have tons of parts from the hobby)
The most difficult part of this project was hollowing out the Wiimote shell. It took a lot of work and was pretty stressful haha.
There are a bunch of software (and hardware) optimizations that can be done here. For example, I've barely scraped the surface (i.e. too lazy to look into this haha) of power-saving optimization regarding the Raspberry Pi, LCD backlight, and emulation. Also, there's improvements in input lag that can be made (which is not really an issue here however) as well as various emulation improvements. If I had kept the original Nunchuck connector, it would have been possible to even use the accelerometer, buttons, and joystick in the Nunchuck for even more inputs and functionality. It would also be cool to try out Recalbox, a RetroPie alternative that has a (subjectively) improved UI as well as (supposedly) out-of-the-box usable N64 emulation.
If you want to build one yourself, I've posted additional pictures/code/steps on my site: https://orecnerwal.wordpress.com/wii-motion/
Parts used:
Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W
Waveshare ST7789 1.3-inch 240x240 LCD
Wii Remote
Samsung 30Q 3000mAh 18650 lion
5V boost converter
Total cost: ~$60
Here are some images:
View attachment 20211205_165959.jpgView attachment 20211204_220226.jpgView attachment 20211204_125751.jpgView attachment 20211204_204722.jpgView attachment 20211205_003715.jpgView attachment 20211204_214836.jpg
 
Joined
Apr 14, 2022
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Wait. I'm looking to do something similiar, but on the docs for RetroPie, on Wii Emulation it says: Note This is only for x86 builds- Not the Raspberry Pi!. Does this mean we can't play wii games on the pi using retropie?
 
Joined
Mar 14, 2021
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Wait. I'm looking to do something similiar, but on the docs for RetroPie, on Wii Emulation it says: Note This is only for x86 builds- Not the Raspberry Pi!. Does this mean we can't play wii games on the pi using retropie?
To my knowledge, Raspberry PIs cant handle such high quality games/consoles, my Pi4 8gb still has struggles playing n64 sometimes so Wii emulation would be pretty impossible. Maybe future Pi models like a Pi5 or similar would be able to handle such high loads, but that's all just speculation.
 
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