Forge-ESP-Code

A small ESP-NOW-based remote servo controller using an ESP32 (transmitter) and an ESP8266 (receiver) with a PCA9685 PWM driver.

Overview

• Transmitter (Code/32/32.ino): Reads a potentiometer on the ESP32 and sends an angle value over ESP-NOW to the receiver.
• Receiver (Code/mcu/mcu.ino): Runs on an ESP8266, receives angle packets via ESP-NOW and updates up to five servos via an Adafruit PCA9685 (I2C PWM driver).

Features

• Low-latency ESP-NOW communication (no WiFi AP required).
• Change-detection on the transmitter to avoid spamming updates.
• PCA9685-driven servos for stable PWM and multi-servo control.

Hardware Required

• ESP32 development board (transmitter)
• ESP8266 development board (NodeMCU / Wemos D1) (receiver)
• Adafruit PCA9685 16-channel 12-bit PWM driver (I2C)
• Up to 5 hobby servos
• 10k potentiometer
• Wires, breadboard, and suitable servo power supply (do not power servos from the ESP board 3.3V regulator)

Suggested Wiring

• Transmitter (ESP32)

  • Potentiometer middle pin → GPIO32
  • Potentiometer outer pins → 3.3V and GND

• Receiver (ESP8266 + PCA9685)

  • PCA9685 VCC → 3.3V or 5V (follow PCA9685 and servo power guidelines)
  • PCA9685 GND → common GND with ESP8266 and servo power
  • PCA9685 SDA → D2 (Wire SDA pin used in Wire.begin(D2, D1))
  • PCA9685 SCL → D1 (Wire SCL pin used in Wire.begin(D2, D1))
  • Servos → PCA9685 channels 0..4 (and servo power to external supply)

Note: The included circuit_image.svg in the repository root shows the expected connections. Replace it with your detailed circuit diagram if you have a specific layout.

Software & Libraries

• Transmitter (Code/32/32.ino): Uses WiFi.h and esp_now.h (ESP32 core)
• Receiver (Code/mcu/mcu.ino): Uses ESP8266WiFi.h, espnow.h, Wire.h, and Adafruit_PWMServoDriver.h

Install these libraries in the Arduino IDE or your build system before compiling the sketches.

How it works (brief)

• The transmitter reads an ADC value from the potentiometer on POT_PIN (ESP32 GPIO32), maps the 0–4095 ADC range to an angle range (0–160) and sends a compact DataPacket struct via ESP-NOW to the receiver MAC address specified in the sketch.
• The receiver maps the incoming angle to PCA9685 PWM pulse range (SERVOMIN..SERVOMAX) and writes the pulse to the first five PCA9685 channels.

Files

• Code/32/32.ino — ESP32 transmitter sketch (reads potentiometer, sends ESP-NOW packets).
• Code/mcu/mcu.ino — ESP8266 receiver sketch (receives ESP-NOW packets, updates PCA9685 PWM channels).
• circuit_image.svg — circuit diagram referenced by this README (in repo root).

Quick Setup (Arduino IDE)

1. Install the ESP32 and ESP8266 board definitions in the Arduino Boards Manager.
2. Install the Adafruit PWM Servo Driver library and any required ESP-NOW support libraries.
3. Open Code/32/32.ino, select your ESP32 board, compile and upload.
4. Open Code/mcu/mcu.ino, select your ESP8266 board, compile and upload.
5. Power the PCA9685 and servos from a suitable external supply. Verify I2C address and wiring.

Tips and Troubleshooting

• Ensure both boards are powered and share a common ground with the servo power supply.
• Verify the receiver MAC address in the transmitter receiverMAC array matches the receiver board (or set to broadcast/testing values).
• If servos jitter, check servo power, wiring, and PCA9685 PWM frequency (set to 50 Hz in the sketch).

License

This project is released under the MIT License — see the LICENSE file.

Contributions

Contributions, issues and feature requests are welcome. Please open a ticket or submit a PR.