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ESP32 Gesture-Controlled Robot Car

2026 – 2026

This project pairs a handheld remote with a separate car unit, both built on ESP32s. The remote reads tilt data from an MPU6050 gyroscope and streams it wirelessly over ESP-NOW to the car unit, which translates that tilt into motor commands. The car itself is a 4WD build — four TT gear motors wired in left/right pairs on a plywood strip chassis — powered by two 18650 Li-ion cells with onboard USB charging and a slide power switch. It runs on ESP-IDF and FreeRTOS rather than the Arduino framework, keeping gesture-sensing and the wireless link running as proper concurrent tasks.

Impact

Handheld MPU6050 gyroscope remote
Wireless ESP-NOW link between remote and car unit
4WD chassis with independent left/right motor control
Li-ion powered with onboard USB charging

Technologies

ESP32ESP-IDFFreeRTOSESP-NOWMPU6050Motor Control