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I am out of kits and will not restock Wiiceiver due to the lack of good wireless nunchucks available. I am working on Wiiceiver X, a replacement wireless handheld controller & receiver, and can hopefully release specs & instructions in the Spring.

I am also out of "upgrade" kits, but you can also download the latest software and upgrade your own device at your convenience.

Introducing the wiiceiver! A drop-in "plug and play" replacement for a traditional RC receiver, designed for use on an electric skateboard. It has 2 standard 3-pin servo connectors (single ESC, dual ESC, or ESC + BEC) and a port for a Nintendo Wii Nunchuck.

... unfortunately all kits are sold out.

Looking for instructions? click here

With a $10 (ish) Nyko Kama wireless nunchuck, the wiiceiver becomes the world's best electric skateboard controller.

The wiiceiver + nunchuck has the same functionality as a standard RC controller + receiver, PLUS:

Open Source & hackable!

Arduino-based, with source code, schematics, parts lists, PCB layouts, and instructions, all freely available on GitHub

Tiny, ergonomic remote

the wireless nunchuck is a small, comfortable handheld unit

automatic "dead man" switch

if the remote is dropped or loses connection, the board idles

"Cruise control"

hold C and adjust faster/slower with the stick

Throttle smoothing & limits

acceleration limit & throttle smoothing for a pleasant, responsive throttle

A solder-it-yourself kit is available for $25; a replacement ATmega328P is available for $3.50 + shipping, and any other components are "free" after shipping. Visit the Endless-Sphere forum to see discussion about the development of wiiceiver, and reviews from active customers

Kits come with a PCB, programmed ATMega328, all components, and a protective heat-shrink cover. You supply the solder, iron, and time. And nunchuck. And skateboard. :) The "plug n play" version is a fully-assembled kit, with all the exact same components.

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Hardware

v1.5.2 PCBs are shipping with all kits.

v1 hardware was the first mass-produced wiiceiver. It used a soldered-on Nunchucky from Solarbotics, two LEDs, a 3.3v regulator for the nunchuck, and capacitors for smoothing power. v1.1 adds a second ESC port.

v1.5 added two additional filtering caps for managing noise, and a Murata EMF filter (two inductors + cap) specifically for managing noise on the power line. The 1.5 board also used a built-in nunchuck port, and has an extra set of headers available to break out pins from the ATmega for future expansion.

v1.5.1 corrected two errors on v1.5: one ESC port was missing a signal line, and most of the screen printing was missing. It also rounded the corners and reduced the board size slightly, for aesthetic purposes.

v1.5.2 is identical to 1.5.1, with the addition of a ground plane on the bottom layer for additional noise suppression.

All wiiceiver hardware uses the same software.

Software

All software is backward-compatible on any wiiceiver hardware (but dual ESC support requires a second ESC port)

The current production release is 2.0B4:

• cruise & drag braking control (C&Z buttons)
• raw mode (C+Z)
• watchdog timer
• inactivity timeout
• watchdog timer
• dual ESC (v1.1 and newer)
• "floating ceiling" for acceleration + braking limits
• setup mode: throttle limits, acceleration profile, and cruise / drag brake levels

The new release drops throttle smoothing in favor of better response based on throttle / braking limits. Setup mode is described in the build instructions

The previous "production" release was 1.2.2:

• throttle smoothing
• cruise control (C button)
• "floating ceiling" for acceleration limit
• raw mode (Z button)
• inactivity timeout
• watchdog timer
• dual ESC (v1.1 and newer)

Free update!

Anyone who's bought a wiiceiver or kit from me or diyelectricskateboard.com can get a FREE $0.01 update to 2.0 -- "buy" the $0.01 option via PayPal ($3 for the additional international shipping, sorry) and I'll send out a programmed ATmega328 & replacement heat shrink. You can also flash your own instantly if you like, see the instructions for more infoes.