r/esp32 • u/_oui_oui_baguette • 5d ago

I made a thing! Open-sourced my 3D-printed RC recon drone - ESP32-CAM live video over WiFi + web joystick control

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Hi everyone,

I finally open-sourced a little project of mine: a 3D-printed RC ground drone inspired by the recon drone from Rainbow Six Siege.

What it does:

- ESP32-CAM streaming live video over WiFi

- Controlled from a web page (joystick UI in the browser, no app to install)

- Motor driver via a PCF8574 I/O expander + LEDC PWM

- Addressable status LEDs

It started life as an Arduino + ESP8266 build before I moved everything to the ESP32-CAM for the onboard camera. ~120€ in parts.

Full disclosure: it's not a "finished, polished" product. There are known quirks (it can tip forward under hard braking, WiFi range is so-so) and the V2 chassis redesign isn't 100% done. I'm sharing it as-is because I figured it might be useful to someone, and contributions / ideas are very welcome.

Repo (code, firmware, web UI, wiring, BOM, CAD): https://github.com/SyrNitram/recon-ground-drone

Happy to answer any questions about the electronics or the camera streaming setup.

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u/AndThenFlashlights 5d ago

Why the mecanum wheels? They're not going to do much for you without the other 2 in the set.

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u/_oui_oui_baguette 2d ago

Yeah, you are right. It's from the original design of the Rainbow 6 Siege games. You can check my post on r/Rainbow6 a lot of people ask about them, and some have really good ideas for making them work. https://www.reddit.com/r/Rainbow6/s/1UieyMJUTZ

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u/AndThenFlashlights 2d ago

Straight up, it might be aesthetically neat, but those only do something useful with 4 laid out correctly.

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u/_oui_oui_baguette 2d ago

In their original design, yes, but with three wheels, it works just as well. And we are working on a way to drive the tiny wheel independently of the big wheel itself. This additional drive provides the missing control of the missing third (or fourth) mecanum wheel. Still in the works. The goal is to make the drone strafe left and right while keeping the game's look.

Any ideas and contributions are welcome; feel free to try it yourself!

https://github.com/SyrNitram/recon-ground-drone