# Self-Balancing Robot with Wi-Fi Joystick Control Built and documented by **Yuyang Huang**

Physical prototype (left) and CAD model (right) of the two-wheeled self-balancing robot.

System-level circuit diagram showing the STM32H723 controller, M6 wheel motors, 24 V battery power path, ESP32-CAM Wi-Fi joystick interface, UART connections, and SWD debugging link.

### Quick Links * **Demo video:** * **Files of 3D modeling & PCB Design:** * **Repository:** * **Project Docs:** ## Summary This repository documents my work on a two-wheeled self-balancing robot built on an STM32H7-based control platform. The project focuses on the core robotics stack needed to bring up a real robot system: embedded firmware, IMU integration, attitude estimation, motor communication, real-time balance control, system tuning, and an ESP32-S3 Wi-Fi joystick web interface. ### What this project demonstrates This project is intended to show that I have worked on a real robotic system beyond isolated coding tasks. My contributions centered on: * STM32 embedded firmware development * IMU integration and attitude estimation * motor driver communication and feedback parsing * real-time balance control implementation * system integration, debugging, tuning, and testing * bringing the robot up as a working electromechanical system ### Project overview The robot is a two-wheeled self-balancing platform that uses: * an STM32H7 microcontroller as the main controller * an IMU for body angle and angular rate feedback * dual motor drivers for wheel actuation * real-time control loops for balancing and motion regulation The control stack includes: * sensor acquisition * attitude estimation * motor communication * balance control * speed / turning control * runtime debugging and parameter tuning ### My role I want to be precise about scope. This was not just a simulation or a small software-only class exercise. I worked on the embedded and robotics side end-to-end, including firmware, sensing, control, communication, integration, debugging, and physical system bring-up. In particular, I worked on: * embedded development on STM32 * IMU data handling and orientation estimation * motor command / feedback communication * balancing control implementation and tuning * real-time debugging through serial tools / logging * integration and testing on the actual robot platform ### Technical highlights #### Embedded system * STM32H7-based firmware * HAL / CubeMX-based project structure * FreeRTOS-based task organization in later versions * UART / SPI / DMA usage for peripheral communication and debugging #### Sensing and estimation * IMU integration for body angle and angular velocity * attitude estimation for balance control * real-time sensor processing for control feedback #### Motion control * closed-loop balancing control * speed and turning control structure * parameter tuning for stable standing and recovery behavior * practical debugging of oscillation, delay, and feedback issues #### Motor communication * communication with motor drivers over serial links * frame parsing and feedback decoding * handling command / response timing, errors, and robustness issues ### Repository structure This repository contains multiple development versions from early bring-up to later integrated revisions. Example folders include: * `H7_0.x.x_*` — earlier STM32H7 development iterations * `H7_1.x.x` / `H7_2.x.x` — later control and integration revisions * `L475_M0603_Feedback` — related motor feedback experiments * `CtrBoard-H7_ADC`, `H7_adc_uart`, `Button_LED`, `oled` — board/peripheral tests and supporting modules In general: * `Core/` contains application entry points and generated STM32 project files * `Drivers/` contains STM32 HAL / CMSIS drivers * `Middlewares/` contains middleware such as FreeRTOS * `User/` and `User_Config/` contain user logic and project-specific modules * `.ioc` files define STM32CubeMX configuration Because this repository tracks many iterations, some folders are historical milestones rather than a single polished release branch. ### Key engineering challenges addressed Some of the important engineering work in this project included: * getting stable IMU-based attitude feedback on embedded hardware * implementing balance control that worked on the real robot, not only in theory * integrating sensing, control, and motor actuation into one real-time system * debugging communication and timing issues between controller and motor drivers * tuning the robot to achieve stable balancing behavior * iterating through multiple firmware versions to improve reliability ### Demo / media Lare added here so recruiters can verify the robot quickly: * Demo video: * Project page / website:
### If you are reviewing this for robotics experience The best way to evaluate this repository is not as a single clean software package, but as an engineering record of building and iterating on a real robot. The main evidence of robotics work here is: * embedded firmware for a real controller * sensor integration * closed-loop control * actuator communication * system bring-up and debugging * iteration across multiple hardware / firmware revisions ### Future cleanup Planned improvements for this repository: * add architecture diagrams * add photos and videos of the robot * document the most representative firmware version * summarize hardware BOM and wiring * provide a cleaner “start here” guide for reviewers ### Contact If you are a recruiter or engineer reviewing this project and would like a short walkthrough of the architecture and my exact contributions, feel free to reach out. **Author:** Yuyang Huang --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://agile-navigator.gitbook.io/docs/self-balancing-robot-with-wi-fi-joystick-control.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.