I'm sure they were looking into Sixaxis also but halted research after, for some odd reason, the robot activated the bomb and went towards the testers, instead of going forward like it should have.

Jac21

SWEET!!

_Ted_

@cybereality: What kid do you know in Iraq with a ps3 and what GI do you know gets service in Iraq? I want to meet this man and get his provider next time I deploy.

Xer0Ph0kus

@boopadoo: Using a previously existing technology--like the Wiimote--probably cuts costs.

And in the long run, robot bomb technicians and soldiers are cheaper than real soldiers. Heck, in the skies, we could probably design and produce 10 to 20 fighter drone-aircraft for the cost of one F-22 Raptor. [Of course, the pilot-riddled bureaucracy of the Air Force would go ape-shit if we ever tried to take away their manned aircraft.]

Sparkamus

Ah, more tax dollars well spent...Let the non-profits figure out how to cure cancer, we gotta fight bombs!

Seriously, just put on some oversized boxing gloves, and your bomb problem is solved!

boopadoo

@Sparkamus: I believe that some of the prototypes were like that. They wanted it to look like a remote because it's more friendly to people who aren't gamers, since everyone knows how to work a remote. Now that the Wii has them hooked though, that's probably not out of the question for the inevitable next generation Wii.

Tiber

Are they dumb or something? Bluetooth can be easily sniffed or hacked. Not to mention the kind of interference you get with bluetooth. I would hate to see a bomb explode because some kid in Iraq was playing a PS3 or some GI got a call on his cell.

cybereality

@CHW: Human fingers can be used to defuse bombs, too!
Is this statement sarcastic or not? I only ask because I sometimes have difficulty telling if people are being sarcastic on the internet.

[...and if you're not kidding, then you must not be aware that robots are used so bomb technicians can keep their fingers (and lives).]

Sparkamus

What's date processing?

torsoboy

@CHW: Yeah, but see we tend to find those more precious than robotic hands/arms, bombs have a nasty habit of sometimes going off while you're defusing them and taking those lovely, irreplaceable hands/fingers/more with them ;)

DaiMacculate

@teh_joe: Essentially, yes. Two nunchucks with enough room for unobstructed sensors and, of course, the necessary buttons. You'd have to do ergonomics testing to figure out exactly how to place the buttons to prevent hand fatigue, but I'm confident that it could be done.*

I'd like to see that stuff on the Wii 2, but failing that, at the very least I'd like a slightly remolded Wiimote that is a bit easier on the hand.

*Also: Presumably, if both nunchuck controllers are structural mirrors of each other, you could design a spine that bridges the two nunchucks, and could serve to fuse the two together. This functionality would eliminate the need for a classic controller.

Sparkamus

Wii is gonna prevent world war III people...mark my words...
George Bush wil be having serious talks with some chump whoes in charge of the Middle East and then SUDDENLY....a Wii comes out of nowhere and Bush asks "would ya like to play"
so they play for hours and hours and become best friends! the end!

excel_excel

"scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy say the Wiimote is more instinctive, allowing users to focus on date processing"

I'd hope they'd focus on the bomb-defusing, personally... :\

EasyTiger

What's the big deal? Human fingers can be used to defuse bombs, too! Imagine that. Ooga booga.

CHW

@Sparkamus: so you're basically saying two pieces that look like nunchucks?

teh_joe

I don't really get the appeal of the Wiimote design. TV remotes are unwieldy, unintuitive devices--so why base a console controller on the design of a remote?
When I've played games requiring the nunchuck, the Wiimote has the tendency to give me major hand cramps after playing a while.

Chop something like a PS2 or 360 controller in half, install accelerometers, and then affix the IR motion sensor to the right-side controller (or hell, add another IR to the left side so we can do knitting games) and just have the left side controller be the nunchuk. Do that, and viola, you've improved the Wii's controller considerably.

Sparkamus

@lishi: Like I said, it's probably just a basic research project, and isn't actually meant for prime time yet.

Lokno

Bomberman.

suburbancowboy

"Just a little closer..." *KABOOM!*
"What? Don't look at me like that - you saw me - I waggled it left to right to pick it up but it shot the bomb. That's supposed to be a stabbing motion! At least I didn't aim the gun at the CO like Johnson did!"
"Hey! My batteries were low, it got stuck turning!"

fuchikoma

WTF? Counter Strike on the wii XD?!

FeatherNET

i don't get why they dont use some professional equipment for doing the wiimote job.

I mean is not like the wiimote is the art of precision.

lishi

This is probably just a proof-of-concept project, using the affordable wiimote to demonstrate the use of this type of input for robotic control. They certainly are not suggesting we deploy wiimotes to Iraq, and if this made it further down the research pipe it would call for the development of a more precise instrument.

Lokno

lol, it would be cool it they made a bomb defusal bot that looked like R.O.B.

bigman88zz

I certainly hope it has more precise control than the various Wii games to date...

sariah

waggle control for bomb defusal?

nolifedopestar (PSN: noliferuin)

The military must be really stupid to use a wiimote as a remote control for bomb robots. Don't they know how inacurate that thing is, one small wrist movement and they could end up blowing up.

nxp3

The PackBot is actually something thats been in development for awhile...[www.irobot.com]

I'd love more details on how the WiiMote controls work, if they just adapted the standard interface or if this is a specific model designed with that control in mind.

DaiMacculate

Um. It's not using the motion sensor, is it? Is it using the accelerometer to some benefit? If not, what is the benefit behind using the Wiimote compared to any other remote? How is it more "instinctive?" Is it just because a lot of military people know and love the Wii?

LoopyChew

If they're going to do it right, they should shape it like a bob-omb.

jayntampa

@ph15h:

that is a shame.

carbonelli

Wii Defuser: Avaliable Fall 2008.

swirldude

...this could be my job.

RichardChaos

@BaseVilliN: lol, my thoughts exactly.

ErskinPig

Glad they are trying something precise and reliable as a wiimote to defuse bombs.

BaseVilliN

@ Fahey: Your would be a much happier place, but my world would be bomb and mine free...

Prinnygeddon!

hmm...ok i see what they did there but why...

Raziel3333

@Crash McCloud: Want me to try?

People really didn't read did they. This is a bomb defusal bot, not a Bomb within a bot that's being controlled by the Wii remote.

ph15h

I thought they already had a vehicle to clear mines. Well, the good news is, this thing is a robot, so no one is in harms way (unlike the vehicle, although its heavily armored), the bad news is, it's using a machine gun, and the bullets cost money, and shrapnel can kill (unlike the vehicle, which just runs over em).

Kaljin

Maybe they can make a Mii Robot head to put at the end of the arm. It would be comical regardless of whether or not the bomb diffused!

Fierfaerie

The end is near...
kids are perfect assassins... give them a Wii bomb game that is linked to real life, and they'll do it, no remorse... a' la Ender's Game.

LittlestLamshi

Next news headlines.

Kids make atom bombs out of Nintendo's Wii console.

Crash McCloud

For some reason, I can see Cutthroat Yamauchi Nintendo being a bit more keen on such press. Blue Ocean Iwata (and Miyamoto) Nintendo? Not so much. Then again there's the Upending Tea Table Miyamoto, fascinating and frightening and against type. But then there's Gardener Miyamoto. And HAL Lab Iwata. Plus, Giant-Faced Iwata on Kotaku is subtly terrifying. So many contradictions!

Ah, Nintendo, you confounding thing...

Keldorek

@boopadoo: @Sparkamus:
That and it's hard to train soldiers to use a big, cumbersome remote control, but half their recruits will instinctively know how to use a Wiimote. They model other controls on the PS2 controller for this reason.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.

@BaseVilliN: I love my Wii, but I have to agree. The motion controls can be pretty abstract.

Sabre_Justice: Okay, no more long name.