I wanted to post this in the off-topic section but it wouldn't let me (says I don't have permission or something), so this is probably my second best option although it's not directly related to Dolphin. However, it will benefit me and my time using Dolphin in the long run. I could probably post this on a different forum on the web, but I'm sure there's some intelligent people here that can offer some advice.
Before I build these things, I'm looking for someone with a little bit of knowledge in electronics who can verify that my schematics for a USB powered wiimote and sensor bar are going to work correctly without burning up my wiimote or USB ports (after days, months, years?). Batteries for my wiimote and candles for a sensor bar are something I'm tired of going through. I don't want to turn on my Wii to activate the sensor bar just to play games on Dolphin. I know I could buy a ton of crap like a USB adapter for my wiimote, rechargeable battery pack, mod my Wii's sensor bar or buy a wireless sensor bar, buy more and more batteries, etc.. etc.. But I figured making my own components would be a lot more fun, cost effective, and I won't have to carve into my Wii's components.
I found a few schematics on the web for USB powered wiimotes, but there isn't much info on the subject and I didn't really like or trust some of the info I found. The most "popular" schematic I found used no decoupling capacitors and had no on/off switch. Other schematics always lacked something that I wanted such as a power LED or on/off switch, or had values I just didn't trust so I started from scratch. Anyway, the link is below this sentence.
USB Powered Wii Peripherals Schematics
For the wiimote, I chose to output 2.86V to the wiimote using an LM317T voltage regulator. This will supply slightly lower voltage than standard batteries (3V) and slightly higher voltage than nickel cadmium batteries (2.8V), so it sounded like a sweet spot. Everything looks good to me, but I always like a second opinion on things like this just to make sure. I like verification that all my component values are correct.
The sensor bar concerns me the most, which is ironic considering it is a much simpler design. The power light is what is throwing me off. I have the IR LED's in a series circuit and the power light/resistor parallel from that circuit. USB is limited to 5V @ 500mA, and I'm not 100% sure if this design will exceed that limit. I forget the math involved in calculating current in a series/parallel circuit. Adding the values up if they were in series would be around 420mA. Plus, at 1.28V per IR LED, the series part of the circuit exceeds the voltage by 0.12V, which I don't think should be a problem, or will it?
Any input will be greatly appreciated. If this stuff looks like it will work, I will build it and share my experiences, with some info for others on how to do it themselves.
Before I build these things, I'm looking for someone with a little bit of knowledge in electronics who can verify that my schematics for a USB powered wiimote and sensor bar are going to work correctly without burning up my wiimote or USB ports (after days, months, years?). Batteries for my wiimote and candles for a sensor bar are something I'm tired of going through. I don't want to turn on my Wii to activate the sensor bar just to play games on Dolphin. I know I could buy a ton of crap like a USB adapter for my wiimote, rechargeable battery pack, mod my Wii's sensor bar or buy a wireless sensor bar, buy more and more batteries, etc.. etc.. But I figured making my own components would be a lot more fun, cost effective, and I won't have to carve into my Wii's components.
I found a few schematics on the web for USB powered wiimotes, but there isn't much info on the subject and I didn't really like or trust some of the info I found. The most "popular" schematic I found used no decoupling capacitors and had no on/off switch. Other schematics always lacked something that I wanted such as a power LED or on/off switch, or had values I just didn't trust so I started from scratch. Anyway, the link is below this sentence.
USB Powered Wii Peripherals Schematics
For the wiimote, I chose to output 2.86V to the wiimote using an LM317T voltage regulator. This will supply slightly lower voltage than standard batteries (3V) and slightly higher voltage than nickel cadmium batteries (2.8V), so it sounded like a sweet spot. Everything looks good to me, but I always like a second opinion on things like this just to make sure. I like verification that all my component values are correct.
The sensor bar concerns me the most, which is ironic considering it is a much simpler design. The power light is what is throwing me off. I have the IR LED's in a series circuit and the power light/resistor parallel from that circuit. USB is limited to 5V @ 500mA, and I'm not 100% sure if this design will exceed that limit. I forget the math involved in calculating current in a series/parallel circuit. Adding the values up if they were in series would be around 420mA. Plus, at 1.28V per IR LED, the series part of the circuit exceeds the voltage by 0.12V, which I don't think should be a problem, or will it?
Any input will be greatly appreciated. If this stuff looks like it will work, I will build it and share my experiences, with some info for others on how to do it themselves.