Tiny RC car project inspired by Mario Kart

Previously, radio-controlled (RC) cars were quite simple. They could drive forward, reverse, and be steered if you had a fully functional toy car. However, with modern technology it is easy to make them more advanced. StuckAtPrototype wonderfully demonstrated with his microcar racers.

Each RC car is driven by its own ESP32 connected to a motor controller, which in turn is connected to small DC gear motors at each wheel. Power comes from a lithium polymer battery on board the car, charged via USB-C. The chassis and body are built using 3D printed components. StuckAtPrototype designed cars in such a way that they can be controlled both using a mobile application and through the author’s RC controller. When the author realized how difficult it was to maintain applications, he preferred the latter option. He also equipped the cars with a small sensor that can read color patterns along their route and change their behavior accordingly. This allowed for gameplay similar to Mario Kart, where touching a color spot could make the car go faster, slower, or spin.

The video gives a detailed description of what these miniature racing cars can do. The race cars were originally intended for Kickstarter, but the project did not reach its funding goal. Instead StuckAtPrototype decided to publish the designs online by posting the corresponding files on GitHub.