Triple-Radio Remote Controller PCB

A compact, hand-held remote that combines Wi-Fi / Bluetooth (ESP32), 2.4 GHz nRF24L01+ and 868/915 MHz LoRa (RFM95W) in a single, joystick-style board.
It is intended as a flexible radio interface for robotics, drones, RC models, telemetry links or IoT experimentation where different wireless technologies are useful at once.

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Table of Contents

1. Features
2. Hardware Overview
3. Schematic Blocks
4. Power Architecture
5. Pin Map
6. Firmware
7. Getting Started
8. Directory Layout
9. Road-Map
10. License

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Features

• MCU — ESP32-WROOM-32
  • Dual-core Xtensa @ 240 MHz, 520 KB SRAM
  • Integrated Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n + Bluetooth Classic/LE
• Radios
  • nRF24L01+ – 2.4 GHz packet radio via 8-pin vertical socket
  • RFM95W – Semtech SX1276 LoRa transceiver, SMA edge connector (keep-out ensured)
• Controls
  • Dual analog thumb joysticks (SparkFun COM-09032) with push-buttons
  • One user LED (GPIO-controlled)
• Sensors
  • MPU-6050 6-axis IMU (gyro + accel)
  • BMP-280 barometric pressure / temperature sensor
• USB & Programming
  • On-board CH340C USB-to-UART with auto-reset/boot circuitry
  • Standard USB-C connector (5 V input & data)
• Power
  • 2-pin JST-PH for Li-Ion/Li-Po battery (“+BATT”)
  • AMS1117-3 V3 LDO for logic / radios
  • AMS1117-5 V rail for external accessories (ESC, servos, etc.)
  • Reverse-polarity and inrush-limit protections
• Expansion / Debug
  • 5-pin 5 V UART header
  • 4-pin 5 V I²C header
  • Plenty of un-populated GPIO test-pads on bottom layer
• Finished board: 74 mm × 74 mm, 2-layer, ENIG, green solder-mask.

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Hardware Overview

Block	Purpose	Interfaces
ESP32-WROOM-32	Central MCU; Wi-Fi/BLE	SPI, I²C, UART, ADC
RFM95W-868/915	Long-range LoRa	SPI (SCK/MISO/MOSI/SS) + DIO0/1/2 + RESET
nRF24L01+ socket	Low-latency 2.4 GHz	Same SPI bus, CE/CSN/IRQ lines
MPU-6050	Motion sensing	I²C @ 400 kHz
BMP-280	Altitude / temp	I²C (wired for I²C)
Dual joysticks	User input	4 × ADC + 2 × GPIO (switches)
CH340C	USB-UART	UART 0 (TX0/RX0), DTR/RTS auto reset
AMS1117-3 V3	Logic 3.3 V rail	Up to 1 A
AMS1117-5 V	Aux 5 V rail	Up to 1 A

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Power Architecture

Li-Po 2S
        │
        ├─ AMS1117-5 V ───► 5 V header / accessories
        │
        └─ AMS1117-3 V3 ──► ESP32, sensors, radios (on-board)

The micro-USB port supplies 5 V when plugged; if a battery is present it is not charged – add an external charger if required.

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Pin Map

Signal	ESP32 GPIO	Notes
LoRa (RFM95W)
LORA_SS (NSS)	5	Shared SPI SS
LORA_RST	26	Active-low reset
LORA_DIO0	34	IRQ – input-only
LORA_DIO1	35	Optional
nRF24L01+
NRF_SS (CSN)	33
NRF_CE	32
NRF_IRQ	27
Shared SPI bus
SCK	18
MOSI	23
MISO	19
I²C bus
SDA	21	MPU-6050, BMP-280, external header
SCL	22
Joysticks
Stick-L H	36 (ADC1_0)
Stick-L V	39 (ADC1_3)
Stick-R H	34 (ADC1_6)
Stick-R V	35 (ADC1_7)
Stick-L Btn	13
Stick-R Btn	12
USB-UART
TX0	1
RX0	3
DTR / RTS	Auto-reset circuit

All unused pins are broken out to pads for hacking.

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Firmware

Any ESP32 framework will work; the board is tested with PlatformIO + Arduino.
Example platformio.ini snippet:

[env:esp32-remote]
platform      = espressif32
board         = esp32dev
framework     = arduino
monitor_speed = 115200
build_flags   =
  -D LORA_SS=5
  -D LORA_RST=26
  -D LORA_DIO0=34
  -D NRF_CE=32
  -D NRF_CS=33
  -D NRF_IRQ=27
lib_deps =
  sandeepmistry/LoRa
  maniacbug/RF24
  adafruit/Adafruit MPU6050
  adafruit/Adafruit BMP280 Library

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Getting Started

1. Clone the repository

   git clone [email protected]:rmingon/long-range-remote-lora-nrf-wifi-bluetooth.git
   cd long-range-remote-lora-nrf-wifi-bluetooth
   

2. Install PlatformIO (VS Code extension or CLI).

3. Select the env in platformio.ini, edit radio pins if you changed the board.

4. Connect micro-USB ch340 auto-programming.

5. Verify serial output at 115 200 baud.

LoRa / nRF24L01+ demos

Example sketches are in firmware/examples/:

• lora_ping/ – bidirectional ping using SX1276
• rf24_controller/ – joystick values sent every 20 ms to a base-station
• wifi_update/ – OTA update via Wi-Fi AP

Build & flash with:

pio run -e esp32-remote -t upload -d firmware/examples/lora_ping

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Directory Layout

.
├─ firmware/              → PlatformIO source
├─ hardware/
│  ├─ kicad/              → .kicad_pcb, .sch, libraries
│  ├─ gerber/             → ready for fabrication
│  └─ stl/                → optional enclosure models
├─ docs/
│  ├─ img/                → renders & photos used in README
│  └─ datasheets/
└─ LICENSE

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Road-Map

• Li-Po charging / fuel-gauge on-board
• Hall-effect joysticks option
• Enclosure with TPU grips
• Support for 900 MHz nRF905 as fourth radio

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License

Hardware is released under CERN-OHL-S v2.
Firmware samples are MIT.
See individual source files for details.

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If you make something cool with this board, please open a pull-request and show it off!