ESP32 + PS3 Controller + Robotic Arm = Awesome!

Now the esp32 is full of awesome features, it has wifi and Bluetooth onboard, is capable of BLE 4.0, and even has it's own wireless communication protocol capable of hundreds of feet, without even using wifi or Bluetooth! One of it's coolest party tricks is its ability to connect to a standard PlayStation 3 controller, without any additional hardware! Adding a sophisticated, wireless, affordable, feature-rich controller to your next robotics project has never been easier! In this tutorial, we'll walk you through each step you'll need to get your esp32 communicating with a PS3 controller. As always, we've got a full video tutorial to go along with this post here. Check it out below! Next, we'll use that controller to control a robotic arm! Your first step is choosing a controller.

Step One: The PS3 Controller

We have some really solid, and affordable generic PS3 controllers that we've tested with our robots, and when paired with an esp32 Wroom 32U with an external antenna, we've seen a range of over 500 ft! That being said, any generic, or official PS3 controller will work. While you may not want to use a generic controller to play a real PS3, they make for an awesome robot controller!