6 Amazing Characteristics of Motion Sensors in the Wii

What this little bugger can do is amazing. It can control dragons, swing clubs, put a sword into the hand of its operator and protect lap top computers when they are dropped.

What is more amazing is how small they are.

So what about these chips which are made by the Switzerland-based  STMicroelectronics NV for Nintendo.

Just how small are they?

1. The motion sensor chip in the Wii is no bigger than one Lincoln ear on a US penny.

2. Two flat pieces of silicon inside each chip weighing about a millionth of a gram flex against silicon springs that keep them in place.

3. The pieces are on the scale of 10 – 100 hydrogen atoms stacked side to side. So, how do they know they are there? Really?

4. A charge of as small as 10 electrons is applied between the moving pieces to detect movement.

5. One piece has springs that detect side to side and back and forth movement and the other detects up and down – like a trampoline.

6. Wii also has an infrared camera to detect how far the chip is from the television.

The motion detectors have been used in autos to deploy air bags. Laptop makers, Sony, Lenovo Group, and Apple Computer Inc. are using them to detect when a pc is in free fall so that the read/write heads of a hard drive will stop, preventing damage when the lap top hits bottom.

Some cell phone makers are planning on installing the chip as well for….well, I wonder what for?

So…who do we thank for developing this technology in the first place?

It seems that once again the military was there at the beginning, creating the technology to guide missiles and airplanes. Hmmm…

For all the ‘evil’ that comes from the military…there have been some/many significant additions to our daily lives as well.