DIY WIFI RC Car With ESP8266 and Arduino IDE

This project is an example of remotely controlled car via WIFI. The circuit is based on ESP8266, and the software is written in the Arduino IDE. As an engine driver, I used the L298N. The vehicle's speed is controlled by PWM in the range of 0 to 1023. Digital control offers more possibilities than the usual controller. I also added a RGB LED as light and buzzer as a horn.

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DIY WIFI RC car with ESP8266 and Arduino IDE

Components

Components that I used in this project.

Schematic

Diagram of a remote controlled car.

Software for ESP8266

Before you upload the software to ESP8266 setup your WiFi connection.

	#define WIFI_SSID ""
	#define WIFI_PASSWORD ""

#include <ESP8266WiFi.h>
#include <WiFiClient.h>
#include <WiFiUdp.h>
#include <ESP8266WebServer.h>
#include <ESP8266mDNS.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>

#define PIN D8
#define LICZBADIOD 1
 
Adafruit_NeoPixel pixels = Adafruit_NeoPixel(LICZBADIOD, PIN, NEO_GRB + NEO_KHZ800);

//---------------------------------------

#define CMD_NONE 0
#define CMD_LED 1

typedef struct TRCcar{
  short speed;
  short turn;
  uint8_t flags;

  uint8_t cmd;

  uint8_t r;
  uint8_t g;
  uint8_t b;
};

//---------------------------------------

//const char COMPILED[] PROGMEM  = { __DATE__ " " __TIME__ };
#define WIFI_SSID ""
#define WIFI_PASS ""

int cnt_loop = 0;
long time_loop;

//---------------------------------------

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Serial.println( "\r\n\r\n--------------------------------------" );
  Serial.println( "START setup" );
  delay(500);
  
  BlinkLedSteup();
  MotroSetupA();
  MotroSetupB();

  //---------------------------------
  WiFi.mode(WIFI_STA);
  //WiFi.mode(WIFI_AP_STA);
  //Serial.print("Setting soft-AP ... ");
  //Serial.println(WiFi.softAP(GetNameDev().c_str(), "1234") ? "Ready" : "Failed!");
  //Serial.println(WiFi.softAP("ESP8266-test", "1234") ? "Ready" : "Failed!");
  
  WiFi.begin(WIFI_SSID, WIFI_PASS);
  //WiFi.hostname( GetNameDev() );

  Serial.print("Connecting to WIFI");

  // Wait for connection
  while( WiFi.status() != WL_CONNECTED ) {
    delay(500);
    Serial.print(".");
  }
  Serial.println("");
  Serial.print("Connected to ");
  Serial.println( WIFI_SSID );
  Serial.print("IP address: ");
  Serial.println(WiFi.localIP());

  //---------------------------------
  UDPSetup();
  BeepSetup();

  pixels.begin();
  //pixels.setPixelColor(0, 255, 0, 0);
  //pixels.show();
  
  Serial.println( "END setup" );
}


void loop() {
  time_loop = millis();
  
  BlinkLed();
  SerialEvent();
  SerialCMD();
  UDPLoop();
  BeepLoop();
}

Download source code

Computer Control Software

The program I control wrote in C #. For PC communication with ESP8266 I used UDP protocol. All commands are executed immediately without delay. The car is driving great, I think much better than the original controller.

Test Drive