Accelerometer... Is This Possible?

[___]

After fucking up the first poll, here is the second one properly done.

Okay, lots of people have already asked about this and I am not sure if we had a clear answer as of yet.
MWeston has recently mentioned that there is a little room on the pandora pcb for hardware hacking so my question is: Is it still possible to add an accelerometer?

I think it would be a nice gimmick but then again, it might be too much having everything in one handheld.

DeadlyDad mentioned this new three axis accelerometer in another thread: http://media.freescale.com/phoenix.zhtml?c...&highlight=

which comes down to a price of 2.60$ in larger quantities and is pretty much state of the art. This could be added as a peripherial device too I guess. I heard that there are SDIO cards out there for that purpose originally designed for use in pdas.

Maybe a word from the devs if an accelerometer could still be added? That would most certainly answer the question for a lot of people and might stop them from begging

Do people think that this would be a nice idea?

 

[b._.o._.b]

After fucking up the first poll, here is the second one properly done.

Had the same thing with my poll (it was already quite finished so I was lucky), that enter button is ruthless

Do people think that this would be a nice idea?

I've never heard of a 3 axis accelerometer and the link you've provided doesn't really help me. What is its purpose (it looks to me like it is a small 3-axis joystick) and do you have examples of other devices having it?

 

[Daid]

It measures 'speed'. Much like the Wii controller (which also has a tilt sensor,). So "Swing your pandora to continue".

 

[hisaki]

It might be fun. I'm already really curious as to what creative programs and games people can come up with for the Pandora and something like this should add even more to the possibilities.

QUOTE
No way... I'd rather have a dvorak keyboard ^^


that made me laugh XD

 

[Megagun]

Yes, this would be awesome.

Although I'm not sure if a 3d accelerometer can do tiltings, it'd be great if the Pandora can do TuxRacer like I can with my Thinkpad (which has a dual-axis accelerometer[url]), see [URL="http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z24JP5TBnyE"]http://youtube.com/watch?v=Z24JP5TBnyE

When I was playing TuxRacer and Neverball on my Thinkpad, I immediately thought that having such a thing on a handheld would be hyper-awesome, especially when said handheld has 3d acceleration. There are many interesting things that one can do with accelerometers, after all!

If adding such an accelerometer allows us to play aplenty more great and innovative games aswell as interesting interface additions, I don't mind the little extra money it will make the Pandora cost, at all! Handhelds with integrated accelerometers be awesome!

And, to those that will go "make it optional accessory": remember that a lot of people design their interfaces and games towards the most 'common' hardware.

 

[Peter R]

It measures 'speed'. Much like the Wii controller (which also has a tilt sensor,). So "Swing your pandora to continue".

Sorry if i'm wrong but wouldn't it measure acceleration and not velocity?

 

[imec]

Hmmm... I don't really care for the accelerometer, because I have never seen it well implemented (yes, this includes the Wii). It just never feels dynamic or fun, it just feels like a hassle. But then again, maybe this attitude emerged from playing Motorcross Madness on the worst controller ever made.

 

[b._.o._.b]

The youtube link from Megagun gives a good idea what is possible. Neverball would be nice with this option, but I don't think there is a real need for it. Could be a good thing to add it though. Maybe it gives the Pandora a trendy Wii feel.
Up to craig to decide, I don't need it, but it could be that customers outside the GP2X community want something like this.

 

[Tobriand]

Could be fun. I personally don't want to add to engineering costs by $2.60, small though it is, to begin with. What I'd suggest is that they leave pads on the board open for accessories (as MWeston has indicated is already a reasonable possibility), and then as and when production costs decrease, they add one to an MK2, and sell conversion kits for the MK1s.

Or alternatively, just sell it as an SDIO card. But that would be custom, and therefore expensive. I mean, SDIO bluetooth exists, and all, but it's ~$130, which is waaaaay more than I want to spend when a USB equivalent dongle is about £10 or less.

 

[___]

yeah the idea with the upgrade kits sounds good. I would want it to be either integrated from the start or availabe as an update. With SDIO or USB I think there might not be many people developing for it because not many people will want to have an external accelerometer on their pandora.

Would be interesting to listen to what MWeston and craig have to say about this.

 

[MWeston]

I don't see it being an included feature. Adding every little feature is just going to keep increasing the cost.

On the plus side, the internal expansion header can support this Freescale part's interface (I2C) and there is room on the left side under the battery for that little evaluation module to mount without any problems for those who wish to experiment with it.

 

[DeadlyDad]

I don't see it being an included feature. Adding every little feature is just going to keep increasing the cost.

On the plus side, the internal expansion header can support this Freescale part's interface (I2C) and there is room on the left side under the battery for that little evaluation module to mount without any problems for those who wish to experiment with it.

While it would be a cool thing to add, I honestly can't see more than 5% of owners really having a use for it. My old Microsoft Free Style Pro had a two-axis accelerometer in it, and it work great for things like flight simulators and driving games....and that's about it. I'm sure that there are people who would love to have one, and would use it a lot, but there wouldn't be a lot of them, and so including it wouldn't make a lot of economic sense. (Sorry to spoil your fun, guys, but if they can't make a profit on it, it just ain't gonna happen.)

One option, that might work well for almost any of these good ideas that just won't work as part of the main unit is to post your idea on the Sparkfun 'New Product Ideas' forum. As a movement sensor wouldn't consist of much more than a accelerometer, an ADC, and a USB interface chip, they could probably put a cheap kit together pretty fast.

 

[Jarska333]

Hee, there's a app for N95 cellphone (with accelometer), that makes lightsaber sounds as the machine is moved...

So hells yeah!

 

[javaJake]

The Pandora, one of the greatest mobile devices of all time, turned into a light saber toy.

I can't wait.

 

[zaffercharles]

I voted maybe as an add on, that little brick is already packed by the sounds and look of it!

 

[sephiroth111]

It might be fun. I'm already really curious as to what creative programs and games people can come up with for the Pandora and something like this should add even more to the possibilities.

QUOTE
No way... I'd rather have a dvorak keyboard ^^

that made me laugh XD


i'm reminded of that powerbook that would switch virtual desktops if you did a tap on the left or right side of the monitor. there are a few practical uses outside the obvious gamepads, but i'm not inventive enough to think of them myself.

 

[Blah]

...and a rumble pak!...er...wait a minute

 

[DaveC]

The poll needs to be done more realistic.

These polls that just say "do you want to have X added to the unit" are not really realistic. If it was just as easy as throwing it in with no penalties then everyone would want it. You need to say "do you want to add X even if it means increasing cost by $15.00, reduced battery life, a slightly larger unit, and delaying the unit 2 months" Then you would get more accurate responses.

A handheld can never be like a Wii, which I guess was the motivation to ask for this. The main reason is because the screen moves around too while you thrash the unit around for motion. It would be kind of hard to see the screen if it was moving around Not practical.

 

[OrR]

Well, an accelerometer in a handheld can still be awesome and useful as http://ndsmotion.com/ proves. What DaveC said is important: The screen moves around with the system. That can be a good thing, though, if taken into consideration in game design. If it's simply used as an analog joystick replacement, you get awful crap games.
Too bad that it doesn't have Bluetooth or we could simply use the Wiimote.

 

[Blah]

A couple tilt sensors would be cool and economical though.