RC and Autonomous 4WD Vehicle
A standalone 4WD robotic vehicle project exploring manual 2.4 GHz wireless control (paired with my Multi-Functional RC Controller) and autonomous obstacle-avoidance behavior.
YouTube Proof-of-Concept Demonstration
Upcoming YouTube demonstration covering 2.4 GHz remote drive response from the Multi-Functional Controller, motor driver PWM tuning, and autonomous mode switching.
Why I Am Building This
A physical vehicle sits right at the intersection of the subjects I care about most: power electronics, closed-loop control logic, and real-time embedded decision-making. If a firmware routine makes a bad timing assumption or power transients aren't filtered properly, you see it immediately in how the vehicle behaves on the floor.
This project is maintained strictly separate from the transmitter console so that the vehicle node and the Multi-Functional RC Controller communicate over a clean, modular 2.4 GHz packet protocol.
Packed C99 Telemetry & Drive Structs
To guarantee deterministic serialization over the 32-byte nRF24L01+ payload buffer between the controller and the vehicle, the link layer uses packed fixed-width C99 structs:
#include <stdint.h>
#include <assert.h>
typedef struct __attribute__((packed)) {
uint8_t magic; // 0xA5 frame sync byte
uint8_t seq; // Rolling packet sequence number
int16_t throttle_pwm; // -1000 to +1000 normalized longitudinal drive
int16_t steering_pwm; // -1000 to +1000 differential yaw command
uint8_t mode_flags; // Bit 0: Autonomous Mode, Bit 1: Emergency Stop
uint8_t crc8; // Checksum for packet integrity
} RcControlPacket_t;
_Static_assert(sizeof(RcControlPacket_t) == 8, "RcControlPacket_t must be 8 bytes");Current Documentation Status
| Attribute | Confirmed Status |
|---|---|
| Project Name | RC and Autonomous 4WD Vehicle |
| Status | In progress (Hardware & control loop integration) |
| Companion Transmitter | ESP32-S3 Multi-Functional RC Controller (MFC) |
| Core Focus Areas | Manual 2.4 GHz RC drive, autonomous behavior exploration, motor drive electronics, and embedded control software |