New Android/Arduino App – ipgamepad

Just wanted to post a little update here about the latest project I’ve been working on called ipgamepad. If you’re looking for a video, don’t worry. We’ll be documenting this fully in the next episode.

In a nutshell, ipgamepad is a simple app that runs on any Android device and acts as a virtual gamepad controller that transmits the control data wirelessly. Right now it’s extremely simplistic in nature (just 2 analog sticks), but I have plans to build out a full controller with buttons and switches. My motivation behind building this is for controlling Arduino/Netduino robots over WiFi.

If you’re like me, you probably have a spare wireless router lying around the house and there’s a good chance you’ve got an Android device accessible to you. With those 2 components you’re literally a microcontroller + ethernet interface away from a wireless control system. On the Google Code page, I’ve also provided an Arduino sketch that you can run if you have an Ethernet shield. You can directly control servos or speed controllers from the Arduino, providing a complete robot control system.

If you’re an Android developer and are interested in helping with the project, let me know! I definitely could use the help developing the app and there are a lot of things to improve/implement before I consider the app anywhere near polished.

The video episode will be following soon with a full explanation and robot demo. Enjoy the code until then!