Steering a Custom RC Car with a Wii Balance Board

Henry Forsyth of Forsyth Creations built his own custom RC vehicle, modeled after Colin Furze’s World’s Fastest Bumper Car. While much smaller, his 3D-printed version looks great, and took many hours of design and printing, plus a nice paint job. A couple headlights are press fit into the body as a nice effect, and can be popped out as needed.

Inside, the device uses a gearmotor and driver to power a pair of back wheels, along with a servo on the front for steering. An Arduino Uno and USB host shield are tasked with onboard control, while rechargeable battery packs keep it going. These components are connected to a laser-cut chassis, and placed inside the 3D-printed body that makes it resemble a miniature bumper car.

User interface is taken care of by either a PS4 controller, or a Wii Balance Board, the latter of which took a bit of programming expertise to get working properly. The build was taken to a basketball court for testing by Forsyth with his friend Eric, though unfortunately the Stig wasn’t able to attend. As it turns out, driving it with the Balance Board is possible, though difficult, so in the end the PS4 gamepad was used for most of the test. The project looks like a lot of fun, and shows what’s possible with a little creativity, printing, painting, and programming!