2 layers150 × 100 mm AXION, the printed circuit board in 3D

AXION

jose803196/ESP32-Unity-Drone-Controller1

A complete project for controlling a 3D drone in Unity using a custom physical controller based on ESP32, MPU6050, and a joystick. Includes hardware, firmware, and simulation.

Open in PCBKit

Size: 150 × 100 mm
Copper layers: 2
Thickness: 1.6 mm
Parts: 25
Nets: 49
Pads: 103
Tracks, vias: 160, 0
Pours: 1
Routed: Yes
KiCad: KiCad 9.0 (file 20241229)
Created: 11 Jul 2025
Updated: 24 Oct 2025

Overview

AXION is an open-source printed circuit board by jose803196, from the jose803196/ESP32-Unity-Drone-Controller repository on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board of 150 × 100 mm with 25 parts on 49 nets, routed with 160 tracks and 0 vias.

It is built around the BC237. Its parts include 6 resistors, 4 switches, 3 diodes, 2 transistors and 2 connectors. It belongs with the robots and motor control boards of this library.

Main components

BC237
TO-92-55℃~+150℃ 1 NPN 150MHz 15nA 350mW 45V 5A 6V 800mV 90 NPN TO-92 Bipolar (BJT) ROHSJiangsu Changjing Electronics Technology (CJ)Bipolar (BJT)

README

README.md

Project: DroneLink Simulator

A real-time 3D drone simulator controlled by a custom-built physical interface based on the ESP32 microcontroller.

About · Features · Tech Stack · Getting Started · Structure · Author

📋 About The Project

DroneLink Simulator is a comprehensive hardware-in-the-loop project that bridges the gap between physical electronics and virtual simulation. The core idea is to provide an immersive and realistic control experience by flying a 3D drone in a Unity environment using a dedicated hardware controller.

This repository contains everything from the ground up:

Hardware Design: Custom schematics and PCB layouts for the controller.
Embedded Firmware: Robust C code for the ESP32 to read sensors and communicate data.
3D Simulation: A fully functional Unity project that receives and interprets the hardware data to manipulate the drone.
Complete Documentation: In-depth reports explaining the design and implementation process.

✨ Features

Real-time Control: Low-latency communication between the ESP32 and Unity via UART.
Intuitive Physical Interface: Control using a joystick for movement, buttons for altitude and lateral movement.
Realistic Physics: The drone in Unity is powered by a Rigidbody component for believable movement.
Modular Codebase: Clean and well-documented code in both C (ESP32) and C# (Unity).
Integrated 3D Workflow: Includes .blend files directly within the Unity project for seamless model editing.
Open Source: Fully documented and ready to be forked, modified, and improved.

🛠️ Tech Stack

This project is built with a combination of hardware and software technologies:

Hardware	Firmware	Simulation	Documentation
ESP32 DevKitC MPU-6050 Gyro/Accel Analog Joystick Push Buttons Buzzer LED's RGB Motor BJT transistor	C Language ESP-IDF Framework FreeRTOS UART Communication	Unity Engine C# Language Blender (for 3D models)	Markdown KiCad (for Schematics/PCB)

🚀 Getting Started

Follow these steps to get the project up and running on your local machine.

Prerequisites

Hardware: All components listed in Hardware.
Software:
- Unity Hub & Unity Editor (version 202X.X.Xf1 recommended).
- ESP-IDF (version vX.X recommended).

Installation & Setup

Clone the Repository

git clone https://github.com/jose803196/ESP32-Unity-Drone-Controller

Flash the Firmware
- Navigate to the Firmware_ESP32 and FIRMWARE_ESP32BRIDGE directories.
- Connect your assembled controller to your computer.
- Run idf.py flash monitor to build, upload, and view the serial output.
Run the Unity Simulation
- Open Unity Hub and select "Add project from disk".
- Choose the Unity_Project folder from this repository.
- Once the project is open, navigate to the main scene in Assets/_Project_DroneSim/Scenes/.
- In the DroneController script component, set the Port Name to match the one used by your ESP32.
- Press Play!

📂 Repository Structure

The repository is organized into four main sections for clarity and modularity:

👤 Author

Jose G. Lopez B.

This project was created as part of Project Laboratory.

Parts

Qty	Value	Footprint	References
4	200 Ω	Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal	R1, R2, R3, R6
4	MountingHole_2.2mm_M2_ISO7380_Pad	MountingHole:MountingHole_2.2mm_M2_ISO7380_Pad	H1, H2, H3, H4
2	1 kΩ	Resistor_THT:R_Axial_DIN0207_L6.3mm_D2.5mm_P7.62mm_Horizontal	R4, R5
2	1N4007	Diode_THT:D_DO-41_SOD81_P10.16mm_Horizontal	D2, D3
2	BC237	Package_TO_SOT_THT:TO-92_Inline	Q1, Q2
2	Conn_01x20	Connector_PinSocket_2.54mm:PinSocket_1x20_P2.54mm_Vertical	J2, J3
1	Avanzar	Button_Switch_THT:SW_PUSH-12mm	SW1
1	Buzzer	Buzzer_Beeper:Buzzer_15x7.5RM7.6	BZ1
1	Conn_01x05	Connector_PinSocket_2.54mm:PinSocket_1x05_P2.54mm_Horizontal	Joystick1
1	Conn_01x08	TerminalBlock:TerminalBlock_Xinya_XY308-2.54-8P_1x08_P2.54mm_Horizontal	MPU6050
1	Derecha	Button_Switch_THT:SW_PUSH-12mm	SW4
1	Izquierda	Button_Switch_THT:SW_PUSH-12mm	SW3
1	LED_RGBK	LED_THT:LED_D5.0mm-4_RGB	D1
1	Motor_DC	Library:XDCR_PS1240P02BT	M1
1	Retroceder	Button_Switch_THT:SW_PUSH-12mm	SW2

Questions

How big is the AXION PCB?

It measures 150 × 100 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.

What parts does the AXION use?

25 parts, built around the BC237. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.

Where can I download the AXION KiCad files?

From the jose803196/ESP32-Unity-Drone-Controller repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is Hardware/KiCad_Project/AXION.kicad_pcb and its schematic Hardware/KiCad_Project/AXION.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.

Can I use the AXION design in my own project?

Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask jose803196 before reusing the design.

Category and platform

Robots and motor control

Project files

Show this board on your page

A live frame, for any web page

<iframe src="https://pcbkit.io/embed/boards/jose803196-esp32-unity-drone-controller" title="AXION in PCBKit" width="100%" height="480" style="border:0;border-radius:12px" allow="fullscreen" loading="lazy"></iframe>

A picture

<img src="https://pcbkit.io/embed/boards/jose803196-esp32-unity-drone-controller.jpg" alt="AXION" width="1200" height="900">

A picture that opens the board, for a README

[![AXION](https://pcbkit.io/embed/boards/jose803196-esp32-unity-drone-controller.jpg?size=s)](https://pcbkit.io/boards/jose803196-esp32-unity-drone-controller)

Source

Repository: jose803196/ESP32-Unity-Drone-Controller
Board file: Hardware/KiCad_Project/AXION.kicad_pcb
Commit: 18e8c23
Licence: Not stated

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This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License][cc-by-nc-sa].
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