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Bluepad32 for Arduino + ESP32

Supported boards

It works on any ESP32 / ESP32-S3 / ESP32-C3 module where the Arduino Core for ESP32 runs. In other words, if you already have Arduino working on a ESP32 / ESP32-S3 / ESP32-C3 module, you can have Bluepad32 running on it as well.

Bug

No output in certain ESP32-S3 boards like Arduino Nano ESP32 or Lolin S3 Mini ?

Read Github issue #65 to see how to enable it.

There are two ways to setup a Bluepad32 Arduino project for ESP32 chips:

  • Option A: Use Arduino IDE
    • Recommended for Arduino IDE users.
  • Option B: Use ESP-IDF + template project
    • Recommended advanced users.
    • Fine-tune your project
    • Includes advanced features

Option A: Use "Arduino Core for ESP32 + Bluepad32" board

RECOMMENDED for Arduino IDE users.

These 4 steps are needed:

  1. Add ESP32 and Bluepad32 board packages to Board Manager
  2. Install ESP32 and Bluepad32 files
  3. Select a "ESP32 + Bluepad32" board
  4. Open the "Bluepad32" example

1. Add ESP32 and Bluepad32 board packages to Board Manager

These two boards must be added to Arduino IDE.

arduino-board-manager

  • Official ESP32 package: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json
  • "Bluepad32 + ESP32" package: https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ricardoquesada/esp32-arduino-lib-builder/master/bluepad32_files/package_esp32_bluepad32_index.json

If you don't know how to add a board, then read Add or Remove 3rd party boards in Board Manager

2. Install ESP32 and Bluepad32 files

After adding both the ESP32 & Bluepad32 boards:

  • go to: Tools -> Board -> Board Manager
  • Install ESP32 board package
  • And install the ESP32 + Bluepad32 board package

arduino-bluepad32-install

3. Select a "ESP32 + Bluepad32" board

Then choose any of the "ESP32 + Bluepad32" boards:

  • Tools -> Board -> ESP32 + Bluepad32 Arduino -> The board you are using

arduino-select-board

4. Open the "Bluepad32" example

arduino-bluepad32-example

Finally, open the Bluepad32 example:

  • File -> Examples -> Bluepad32_ESP32 -> Controller

And compile & flash!

Option B: Use ESP-IDF + template project

Note

Recommended for advanced users.

Clone the template project

git clone --recursive https://github.com/ricardoquesada/esp-idf-arduino-bluepad32-template.git my_project

To install and use ESP-IDF you have two options:

  • a) Using PlatformIO
  • b) Or manually install ESP-IDF toolchain

A) Using PlatformIO + ESP-IDF

open_project

  1. Open Visual Studio Code, select the PlatformIO plugin
  2. Click on "Pick a folder", a select the recently cloned "my_project" folder

That's it. The PlatformIO will download the ESP-IDF toolchain and its dependencies.

It might take a few minutes to download all dependencies. Be patient.

build_project

After all dependencies were installed:

  1. Click on one of the pre-created boards, like esp32-s3-devkit-1. Or edit platformio.ini file, and add your own.
  2. Click on build

monitor_project

Finally, click on "Upload and Monitor":

  • It will upload your sketch
  • And will enter into "monitor" mode: You can see and use the console. Try typing help on the console.

B) Manually installing ESP-IDF

Install ESP-IDF toolchain by following these instructions:

Compile template project and flash it

To compile it and flash it, do:

# cd to your project folder
cd my_project

# To compile it do:
idf.py build

# To flash it do:
idf.py flash monitor

To fine-tune it do:

# Add / edit / remove components with:
idf.py menuconfig

Further reading

Detailed instructions here: https://github.com/ricardoquesada/esp-idf-arduino-bluepad32-template