iOS using accelerometer to move an object within a circle - ios

Question

I am trying use the accelerometer to move an image within a circle. I am having issue that when the image hits the edge of the circle, it just moves the other side of the circle. My code is below:
- (void)accelerometer:(UIAccelerometer *)accelerometer didAccelerate:(UIAcceleration *)acceleration {
//NSLog(#"x : %g", acceleration.x);
//NSLog(#"y : %g", acceleration.y);
//NSLog(#"z : %g", acceleration.z);
delta.x = acceleration.x * 10;
delta.y = acceleration.y * 10;
joypadCap.center = CGPointMake(joypadCap.center.x + delta.x, joypadCap.center.y - delta.y);
distance = sqrtf(((joypadCap.center.x - 160) * (joypadCap.center.x - 160)) +
((joypadCap.center.y -206) * (joypadCap.center.y - 206)));
//NSLog(#"Distance : %f", distance);
touchAngle = atan2(joypadCap.center.y, joypadCap.center.x);
NSLog(#"Angle : %f", touchAngle);
if (distance > 50) {
joypadCap.center = CGPointMake(160 - cosf(touchAngle) * 50, 206 - sinf(touchAngle) * 50);
}

Answer 1

I was having the same issue when attempting to implement a circular spirit level using CMDeviceMotion. I found it was an issue with the coordinates passed to atan2(y,x). This function requires cartesian coordinates, with (0,0) in the centre of the view. However, the screen coordinates have (0,0) in the top left corner. I created methods to convert a point between the two coordinate systems, and now it's working well.
I put up a sample project here on github, but here's the most important part:
float distance = sqrtf(((point.x - halfOfWidth) * (point.x - halfOfWidth)) +
((point.y - halfOfWidth) * (point.y - halfOfWidth)));
if (distance > maxDistance)
{
// Convert point from screen coordinate system to cartesian coordinate system,
// with (0,0) located in the centre of the view
CGPoint pointInCartesianCoordSystem = [self convertScreenPointToCartesianCoordSystem:point
inFrame:self.view.frame];
// Calculate angle of point in radians from centre of the view
CGFloat angle = atan2(pointInCartesianCoordSystem.y, pointInCartesianCoordSystem.x);
// Get new point on the edge of the circle
point = CGPointMake(cos(angle) * maxDistance, sinf(angle) * maxDistance);
// Convert back to screen coordinate system
point = [self convertCartesianPointToScreenCoordSystem:point inFrame:self.view.frame];
}
And:
- (CGPoint)convertScreenPointToCartesianCoordSystem:(CGPoint)point
inFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
float x = point.x - (frame.size.width / 2.0f);
float y = (point.y - (frame.size.height / 2.0f)) * -1.0f;
return CGPointMake(x, y);
}
- (CGPoint)convertCartesianPointToScreenCoordSystem:(CGPoint)point
inFrame:(CGRect)frame
{
float x = point.x + (frame.size.width / 2.0f);
float y = (point.y * -1.0f) + (frame.size.height / 2.0f);
return CGPointMake(x, y);
}