Published June 25, 2025 © Apache-2.0

Steering Wheel Game Controller

In this tutorial, you'll create a video game controller that mimicks a steering wheel, to play a car game made with Unity!

IntermediateFull instructions provided4 hours89

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Arduino Mega 2560

Inertial Measurement Unit (IMU) (6 deg of freedom)

Software apps and online services

Unity

Arduino IDE

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Story

Introduction

In this project you will be building a steering wheel game controller, that communicates to python using the serial port. Then, python will communicate with Unity through sockets, allowing you to translate data from the gyro to actions in the game.

Wiring

Here is the wiring schematic for this project. I used a Mega 2560 and a MPU-6050 gyro. For Arduino types other than Mega 2560, you may need to plug in SCL and SDA into A4 and A5. Check online for more resources regarding wiring for other boards.

Arduino Code

Upload this code onto your arduino!

#include<Wire.h>
#include <Streaming.h>
const int MPU_addr=0x68;
int16_t AcX,AcY,AcZ,Tmp,GyX,GyY,GyZ;
int pitch, roll;
void setup(){
Wire.begin();
Wire.beginTransmission(MPU_addr);
Wire.write(0x6B);
Wire.write(0);
Wire.endTransmission(true);
Serial.begin(9600);
}
void loop(){
Wire.beginTransmission(MPU_addr);
Wire.write(0x3B);
Wire.endTransmission(false);
Wire.requestFrom(MPU_addr,14,true);
AcX=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
AcY=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
AcZ=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
Tmp=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
GyX=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
GyY=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
GyZ=Wire.read()<<8|Wire.read();
roll = atan2(AcY , AcZ) * 180.0 / PI;
pitch = atan2(-AcX , sqrt(AcY * AcY + AcZ * AcZ)) * 180.0 / PI;
Serial  << roll << endl;
delay(55);
}

Python Code

Run the following code on an IDE. I recommend setting up a virtual environment with PyCharm to run this script.

import serial
import socket
sock = socket.socket(socket.AF_INET, socket.SOCK_DGRAM)
HOST = "127.0.0.1"  # Standard loopback interface address (localhost)
PORT = 5052  # Port to listen on (non-privileged ports are > 1023)
def checkLeft(data):
return data and int(data) < 150 and int(data) >= 0
def checkRight(data):
return data and int(data) < 150 and int(data) >= 0
def readserial(comport, baudrate):
ser = serial.Serial(comport, baudrate, timeout=0.1)         # 1/timeout is the frequency at which the port is read
num = 0
while True:
data = ser.readline().decode().strip()
if data and int(data) < 150 and int(data) >= 0:
print("right")
sock.sendto(str.encode("right"), (HOST, PORT))
elif data and int(data) > -150 and int(data) <= 0:
print("left")
sock.sendto(str.encode("left"), (HOST, PORT))
elif data and abs(int(data)) > 150:
print("center")
sock.sendto(str.encode("center"), (HOST, PORT))
# print(data)
while True:
readserial('COM4', 9600)

Unity Environment

The scripts used in the Unity project are attached.

1. Create a new Unity project

2. Create a simple track with a plane and a couple of cubes as obstacles.

3. Create an empty game object and attach the Main Camera to it.

4. Create a rectangular prism for the car (or a 3D model if you have one)

5. Give the car rigid body and box collider components.

5. Attach the Car Drive and UDP Recieve scripts to the car object.

6. Under the Manager field in the Car Drive script, drag and drop the UDP Receive script.

7. The speed, turn speed, and gravity multiplier fields in Car Drive should be 3, 1.25, and 5 respectively.

7. Set the UDP Receive port to 5052

10. Drag the camera script onto the empty game object that the main camera is attached to.

11. Smoothing and Rot Smoothing on the camera script should be 0.3 and 0.1 respectively.

12. Finally, drag and drop the car game object onto the Player field in the camera script.

3D Printing (Optional)

If you want, you can 3D-print a mount to hold all the electronics. A 3D-Model is attached to this post - however, you should double-check the dimensions of your components and make sure each slot is oriented properly in the 3D model. You will likely have to make changes to the model before printing it.

Putting It All Together

After wiring the circuit, upload the Arduino code onto your Arduino board. Then, close the Arduino IDE and run the python script while the Arduino is still connected to the computer. The Arduino will broadcast gyro data to the serial port, which is read by the python script. The python script then checks the angle given by the data and determines whether the gyro is tilted left, right, or not at all. You should hold the gyro so that the longer edge of the module, the side with no pins, faces towards the ground. The circuitry on the module should face away from you and the pins should point at you. Avoid tilting the module too far forwards and backwards - only tilt it left and right. Once the Arduino is plugged in and the python script is running, you can start the game in Unity. The UDP receive script will read the data that python is spitting out via socket. It will then translate this data into motion of the in-game car!

Code

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;

public class Camera : MonoBehaviour
{
    public float smoothing;
    public float rotSmoothing;
    public Transform player;
    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void FixedUpdate()
    {
      transform.position = Vector3.Lerp(transform.position, player.position, smoothing);
      transform.rotation = Quaternion.Slerp(transform.rotation, player.rotation, rotSmoothing);
      transform.rotation = Quaternion.Euler(new Vector3(0, transform.rotation.eulerAngles.y, 0));  
    }
}

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using UnityEngine.SceneManagement;

public class CarDrive : MonoBehaviour
{
    public float speed;
    public float turnSpeed;
    public float gravityMultiplier;
    public UDPRecieve manager;

    public string data;
    // public 

    private Rigidbody rb;

    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        rb = GetComponent<Rigidbody>();
        
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    void FixedUpdate()
    {
        data = manager.data;
        Accelerate();
        Turn();
        Fall();
    }

    void Accelerate ()
    {
        // if (Input.GetKey(KeyCode.W))
        // {
            Vector3 forceToAdd = transform.forward;
            forceToAdd.y = 0;
            rb.AddForce(forceToAdd * speed * 10);
        // }
       if (Input.GetKey(KeyCode.S))
        {
            // Vector3 
            forceToAdd = -transform.forward;
            forceToAdd.y = 0;
            rb.AddForce(forceToAdd * speed * 25); //* 10
        }

        Vector3 locVel = transform.InverseTransformDirection(rb.velocity);
        locVel = new Vector3(0, locVel.y, locVel.z);
        rb.velocity = new Vector3(transform.TransformDirection(locVel).x, rb.velocity.y, transform.TransformDirection(locVel).z);
    }

    void Turn ()
    {
        if (data == "left")
        {
            rb.AddTorque(-Vector3.up * turnSpeed * 10);
        }
        else if (data == "right")
        {
            rb.AddTorque(Vector3.up * turnSpeed * 10);
        }
    }

    void Fall()
    {
        rb.AddForce(Vector3.down * gravityMultiplier * 10);
    }

    void OnCollisionEnter(Collision col)
	{
	if(col.gameObject.tag == "Finish")
	{
	SceneManager.LoadScene("SampleScene");
	}
	}
}

using System.Collections;
using System.Collections.Generic;
using UnityEngine;
using System;
using System.Text;
using System.Net;
using System.Net.Sockets;
using System.Threading;

public class UDPRecieve : MonoBehaviour
{

    Thread recieveThread;
    UdpClient client;
    public int port = 5052;
    public bool startRecieving = true;
    public bool printToConsole = true;
    public string data;
    // Start is called before the first frame update
    void Start()
    {
        recieveThread = new Thread(new ThreadStart(ReceiveData));
        recieveThread.IsBackground = true;
        recieveThread.Start();
    }

    // Update is called once per frame
    private void ReceiveData()
    {
        client = new UdpClient(port);
        while(startRecieving)
        {
            try
            {
                IPEndPoint anyIP = new IPEndPoint(IPAddress.Any, 0);
                byte[] dataByte = client.Receive(ref anyIP);
                data = Encoding.UTF8.GetString(dataByte);

                if(printToConsole){print(data);}
            }
            catch(Exception err)
            {
                print(err.ToString());
            }
        }
    }
}

Credits

mahdi syed

4 projects • 2 followers

I'm a passionate programmer with extensive experience in robotics, app design, web design, IOT, and AI.

Steering Wheel Game Controller

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Introduction

Wiring

Arduino Code

Python Code

Unity Environment

3D Printing (Optional)

Putting It All Together

Custom parts and enclosures

Steering Wheel 3D-Print

Code

Camera Script

Car Drive

UDP Receive

Credits

mahdi syed

Comments

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Steering Wheel Game Controller

Steering Wheel Game Controller

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Software apps and online services

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Introduction

Wiring

Arduino Code

Python Code

Unity Environment

3D Printing (Optional)

Putting It All Together

Custom parts and enclosures

Steering Wheel 3D-Print

Code

Camera Script

Car Drive

UDP Receive

Credits

mahdi syed

Comments

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