Using PS3 Controllers with ESP32 | Build Custom Remote Controls

@alanl I once had a Bluetooth device that I could not connect to, and after a lot of back and forth the manufacturer was going to replace the unit. This was a multi-hundred dollar device. Just as we were sorting out the exchange details the service counter person suggested using a different phone. I tried my wife's phone and voila it worked. Both mine and her phone were Apple iPhones, mine one year older. After that happened, my phone was also able to connect.

Bluetooth can be a bear, it is unlikely there is anything wrong with your device but it is possible. I also get similar problems with WiFi because I am surrounded by dozens of WiFi devices, I know how to fix that, still have no idea how to 'unstick' Bluetooth. Good luck.

@john_b I tried to by the controllers that Bill sent me a link to, unfortunatly Amazon.ca dont ship to  the UK, So I sent a request to the Selles "Double Day" Today I recieved a reply "Hello,this is the same product that we have sold in British,so it can send to England and can save your postage "  and the link: "https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BRNDLNZT"

I am going to get one of these on Prime. I'll let you know if it responds to the SixAxisTool

@alanl The "Brand" that Bill got were from Tonsum according to his link.  I have one due for delivery tomorrow.  I'll let everyone know the results one it arrives.

@codecage Are you in the UK. Ive searched for TONSUM and cant find any, that's why I contacted Bill's supplier "Double Day" and they sent me the link to  amazon.co.uk. That is why I'm giving them a try

Posted by: @alanl

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@john_b I tried to by the controllers that Bill sent me a link to, unfortunatly Amazon.ca dont ship to  the UK, So I sent a request to the Selles "Double Day" Today I recieved a reply "Hello,this is the same product that we have sold in British,so it can send to England and can save your postage "  and the link: "https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0BRNDLNZT"

I am going to get one of these on Prime. I'll let you know if it responds to the SixAxisTool

Thanks. It's not just whether it responds to Sixaxis, which the one I bought did. It needs to be tested with an ESP32 as well. I couldn't detect a Bluetooth signal however I tried it.

@alanl No, I'm in the US, but when I went to the link that Bill provided for Amazon.ca, it showed a brand name of Tonsum.

@codecage I looked for Tonsum in the UK and could not find them so Bill's supplier gave the ink to the UK version (supposedly)!

@alanl Well let's all keep our fingers crossed!

@alanl FYI @codecage @john_b I will bet a coffee it won't change anything, it's normal BT shenanigans, you just have to hold your mouth the right way, stand on one leg and howl at the moon to get it to work. This is one time where resetting everything actually works BUT you need to make sure you are in a relatively quiet zone in terms of BT and WiFi. We had a device that would not connect until we had a power failure and then it worked because there was no interference (it was on battery) Good luck

p.s. Maybe a project idea, a Faraday cage large enough to hold two devices trying to connect.

@zander I'm beginning to think you have nailed it right on the head!

Posted by: @zander

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you need to make sure you are in a relatively quiet zone in terms of BT and WiFi.

I don't use Wi-Fi, and my neighbours are some distance away as we all have big plots. The neighbours are all pretty computer illiterate, and I doubt if they have many wireless gadgets. I managed to detect a couple of BT speakers I have but rarely turn on. So I think this is a pretty quiet zone, if not totally silent!

Posted by: @zander

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p.s. Maybe a project idea, a Faraday cage large enough to hold two devices trying to connect.

🤣 Love it!  It works if it's by itself.  Next, you'll bring in Heisenberg and you can't look at it either.  😉 

I have a little Tello drone and I use a BlueTooth controller connecting to my phone that then sends out the WiFi that actually controls the drone as normal.  I can even put the phone in one of those Google Daydream goggles and use it FPV.  I've never had any trouble with it.  Maybe, its because I live out in the sticks.  😎 

Posted by: @inq

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Posted by: @zander

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p.s. Maybe a project idea, a Faraday cage large enough to hold two devices trying to connect.

🤣 Love it!  It works if it's by itself.  Next, you'll bring in Heisenberg and you can't look at it either.  😉 

Well hey there, you gonna need a longer string !

I have had the MAC address problem with two PS3 controllers, I have confirmed that the cables are data cables by loading a program onto an Arduino Nano. I tried a reset of the PS3 controller and then hard coded a MAC address of 00:00:00:00:00:00 into the Demo sketch but it did not connect.

Has anyone else used the default MAC address after a reset of the PS3 controller?

Can someone with a working Sixaxis Pair Tool, Bill, try a reset of the PS3 controller and let us know what the MAC address is after this reset?

@alanl, @dronrbot-workshop, @zander, @john_b, @jasea

I had success with my newly arrived Tonsum brand PS3 controller.  Came right up in SixaxisPairTool as 00:00:00:00:00:00!  For the fun of it, I changed master address to 01:23:45:67:89:ab, then loaded an ESP32 with the examples PS3Demo.ino using the changed master and ran through the demo program.  It worked like a champ.

The bad thing is that even though I tried to post a success message earlier it seemed not to be saved and then when trying to access the forum all I was getting was a blank page.  And even worse I was unable to compile any other PS3 controller sketches without encountering an error message about an "include" of a ".h" library.  And worse yet the 2.0.4 IDE now won't even load.

But attached is what I'm seeing in my Task Manager:

So I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the IDE, same results.  Guess I'll just go back to bed!