esp32-bluepad-railbt

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Bluepad32 railBT firmware

This project aims to programme a microcontroller that controls a train using an ESP32, an H-Bridge and a Bluetooth Gamepad via Bluepad32.

I made this as a cheaper alternative to premade G scale RC solutions, which can cost upwards of 70€. The parts I used are cheap and off the shelf components readily available from DIY electronics sites and ebay. I've been designing and constantly upgrading a custom mainboard that houses all the components, reducing the need for manual wiring significantly. See the pcb folder.

Features:

Directional headlights (can be disabled if needed in favour of a simple headlight)
Power pickup from battery, or track (AC/DC/DCC agnostic via full bridge converter, two inputs are provided to be switched via six-pole switch)
RJ-45 socket for delivering 24V power and RX/TX to another engine (current implementation is similar to RS-232 serial and untested, with i2c or CANBus protocols being considered)
Inertia simulation (in early testing, doesn't fully work yet) like on a commercial DCC decoder (user-configurable, see CVAR.h in the include folder)
High grade traction properties thanks to Polulu DRV8874 brushed DC motor controller (braking to traction percentage, zero-resistance coasting, etc, see Polulu website)
24V rail for traction and lighting, and 5V rail for microcontroller and peripheries
Support for ultrasonic humidifier boards. The circuit and firmware allow for rapidly switching the board on and off in tune with the speed of the engine to simulate steam exhaust blast.

Three drive modes are supported:

Mode 0 for direct control of direction and speed via the left thumb stick (for fine grain shunting)
Mode 1 for throttle mode via the left stick
Mode 2 for control via the D-pad (for those who don't like having to hold the thumb stick during shunting)

Control scheme:

(...) / Select button: Control Mode Down
Menu / Start button: Control Mode up
X: Toggle Emergency brake (controller vibrates when applying the brake)
A: Toggle headlight

Parts list:

XL1509 Buck converter module (a complete module, not the chip itself) or similar
railBT Mainboard (optional but recommended, submit the kicad file to the custom PCB manufacturer of your choice)

Comments

Bluepad32 railBT firmware

This project aims to programme a microcontroller that controls a train using an ESP32, an H-Bridge and a Bluetooth Gamepad via Bluepad32.

Features:

Directional headlights (can be disabled if needed in favour of a simple headlight)

Power pickup from battery, or track (AC/DC/DCC agnostic via full bridge converter, two inputs are provided to be switched via six-pole switch)

RJ-45 socket for delivering 24V power and RX/TX to another engine (current implementation is similar to RS-232 serial and untested, with i2c or CANBus protocols being considered)

Inertia simulation (in early testing, doesn't fully work yet) like on a commercial DCC decoder (user-configurable, see CVAR.h in the include folder)

High grade traction properties thanks to Polulu DRV8874 brushed DC motor controller (braking to traction percentage, zero-resistance coasting, etc, see Polulu website)

24V rail for traction and lighting, and 5V rail for microcontroller and peripheries

Support for ultrasonic humidifier boards. The circuit and firmware allow for rapidly switching the board on and off in tune with the speed of the engine to simulate steam exhaust blast.

Three drive modes are supported:

Mode 0 for direct control of direction and speed via the left thumb stick (for fine grain shunting)

Mode 1 for throttle mode via the left stick

Mode 2 for control via the D-pad (for those who don't like having to hold the thumb stick during shunting)

Control scheme:

(...) / Select button: Control Mode Down

Menu / Start button: Control Mode up

X: Toggle Emergency brake (controller vibrates when applying the brake)

A: Toggle headlight

Parts list:

XL1509 Buck converter module (a complete module, not the chip itself) or similar

railBT Mainboard (optional but recommended, submit the kicad file to the custom PCB manufacturer of your choice)

esp32-bluepad-railbt

Share esp32-bluepad-railbt

Bluepad32 railBT firmware

This project aims to programme a microcontroller that controls a train using an ESP32, an H-Bridge and a Bluetooth Gamepad via Bluepad32.

Features:

Three drive modes are supported:

Control scheme:

Parts list:

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Bluepad32 railBT firmware

This project aims to programme a microcontroller that controls a train using an ESP32, an H-Bridge and a Bluetooth Gamepad via Bluepad32.

Features:

Three drive modes are supported:

Control scheme:

Parts list:

Planned features

Demo video (outdated early prototype version)