OpenMote is an OpenSource dev board that's a drop in replacement for the electronics inside a wii-style remote. With all the original functionality and usb-c charging + programming, WiFi + Bluetooth. OpenMote is a fun and exciting way to interface with your DIY electronics projects and smart-home. Bring your old controllers back to life!
Introduction
Hey fellow makers! We’re excited to introduce you to our latest project, OpenMote. If you’ve ever wished you could control your DIY electronics projects with something as fun and familiar as a game controller, then you’re in for a treat. We designed OpenMote to bring a nostalgic touch to modern DIY projects, and we can’t wait to share it with you. If you want more Info about OpenMote or even to get one yourself go to our kickstarter page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/openmote/openmote-arduino-compatible-controller-for-makers?ref=2obk57
OpenMote Fits perfectly Inside Wii-style controllers
The Idea Behind OpenMote
The idea for OpenMote came from a simple question: "What if we could control our lights, TV, or even music with a game controller?" I love tinkering with electronics and felt a bit disappointed with how everything’s moving towards touchscreens. I missed the tactile feedback and fun of old-school game controllers. So, I decided to create OpenMote, blending the best of both worlds: the familiarity of classic game controllers with the power of modern microcontrollers.
OpenMote charges and programs with a USB-C cord
What is OpenMote armed with?
So what’s actually on an OpenMote board? All the original controller functions and a couple more on top!
- 12 programmable buttons
- 4 leds
- 6 axis imu (gyro + accel)
- Speaker
- Haptic motor
- 20 degree + 40 degree IR LEDs
- USB-C charging and programming
- Wifi and Bluetooth with ESP32-S3 architecture
OpenMote is loaded with features
What OpenMote Can Do
Smart Home Control
OpenMote’s wifi chip allows you to connect it to your home network control your smart home devices in totally new ways. For a fully DIY solution we’ve programmed our OpenMote to communicate to with a smart home server through MQTT and Node-Red. This fully custom solution allows me to create any kind of project flow I can imagine with OpenMote controlling it all.
DIY Projects
OpenMote is made for makers by makers so we understand that sometimes when you’ve built a crazy cool project the last thing you want to do is design and build a controller for it. OpenMote can pair with your pre-existing wireless projects through espressif’s crazy easy Esp-Now protocol that uses 2.4Ghz wifi to connect device to device for a network-less interface.
If you want something even easier to interface with like IR receivers OpenMote’s got 2 of em. Inspired by the Tv-be-gone we’ve paired 2 940nm IR leds; a 20 degree one and a 40 degree one. This allows you to be sure that when you aim your OpenMote at the Tv or your project that signal is getting through.
OpenMote is also fully Open source and we’re really excited to see what the community is going to create with it and what crazy things they are going to dream up. We’ve added a QWIIC connector to it for maximum support and solderless daisy chaining for displays or sensors or anything else that you think your OpenMote is missing.
Media Control
Tired of losing your TV remote? OpenMote can take over those duties too. With our IR LEDs you can program any function your tv remote was responsible for to your OpenMote.
Our favorite interaction with OpenMote is using it as a bluetooth media controller, now you’re probably thinking to yourself what does that actually mean? You’re walking down the street listening to music on your headphones or speaker, a song comes on that you’ve heard way too many times already this week. Instead of reaching into your pocket pulling out your phone and pressing skip you can just press the B button on OpenMote. Want to change the volume? Well the plus and minus buttons on OpenMote have got you covered again. We have found that there’s a certain level of magic involved in controlling your music or phone with physical buttons that really can’t be replicated with a touch screen.
Gaming
Bluetooth takes the center stage here. Being able to program each button or interaction as a bluetooth keyboard input gives you the full freedom to create a controller for anything. There’s a couple layers of fun to be had with this one. First off there’s making the direction keys the arrow keys and being able to play simple flash games on your computer with OpenMote. But take it one step further and you’ve got something really silly on your hands: program a swipe up from the IMU to trigger the space bar and you can take your chrome dino-run gameplay to a whole new dimension.
Our Journey
Creating OpenMote has been an incredible journey. Over the past year, we’ve poured our hearts into designing, testing, and refining it. What started as a fun idea turned into a full-fledged project. We’ve spent countless hours ensuring that OpenMote is easy to use, versatile, and just plain fun. I’m really excited to share OpenMote with this community and am even more excited to see what the DIY electronics community makes with it.
