# ricardoquesada/bluepad32

Bluetooth gamepad, mouse and keyboard support for ESP32 and PicoW

Repository: https://github.com/ricardoquesada/bluepad32
Canonical: https://ross.abutalabs.com/products/bluepad32
Homepage: https://bluepad32.readthedocs.io/
Language: C
License: NOASSERTION
License Family: other
Topics: bluetooth, esp32, gamepad, esp-idf, arduino, keyboard, mouse, pico-w, pico-sdk
Last push: 2026-01-22T17:04:03+00:00

## Health v2 (maintenance only)
Score: 51/100 (v2, computed 2026-09-03T02:20:16.233290+00:00)
- activity 63, release rhythm 8, longevity 100
- inputs: {"age_days": 2123, "days_push": 223, "days_rel": 607, "gap_med": null, "n_releases_24m": 1}
- flags: no_license
- formula: round(0.45*activity + 0.35*rhythm + 0.20*longevity); archived -> min(score, 10)

## Adoption (not part of the score)
Stars 1131, forks 147 (observed 2026-08-28T04:03:42.498867+00:00)

## What it is
Bluepad32 is a Bluetooth controller host library that adds gamepad, mouse, and keyboard support to embedded projects on ESP32 variants, Raspberry Pi Pico W, and Posix systems. It lets devices like robots or retro consoles be controlled wirelessly with standard Bluetooth controllers such as the DualSense.

## Use cases
- control a robot with a DualSense bluetooth controller
- add bluetooth gamepad support to an esp32 project
- connect a wireless keyboard and mouse to a pico w
- build a retro console with bluetooth controllers
- read gamepad input in arduino or esp-idf
- use a ps5 controller with circuitpython via airlift coprocessor

## When to choose
- you need bluetooth HID input (gamepads, mice, keyboards) on ESP32 or Pico W hardware
- you want a mature, well-documented library with Arduino, ESP-IDF, and Pico SDK integrations
- you're building robots, drones, or embedded consoles controlled by standard controllers

## When to avoid
- your project runs on desktop or mobile platforms with native Bluetooth HID support
- you need Bluetooth audio or other non-HID profiles
- your microcontroller is not an ESP32 variant or Pico W/2 W

## Facets
- artifact type: library
- maturity: active
- function: embedded, sdk, game
- domain: embedded-systems, gaming-tools, hardware, cross-platform
- platform: embedded, iot, cpp, c
- tags: bluetooth-host, gamepad, esp32, raspberry-pi-pico-w, arduino, esp-idf, pico-sdk, dualsense, input-devices, linux, macos

## Member repositories
- ricardoquesada/bluepad32 (main) score 51

## Provenance
- Observed fields: from GitHub, fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:42.498867+00:00.
- Health v2: computed from the inputs above; adoption is never an input.
- Inferred fields (summary, facets, guidance): AI-extracted, prompt v1, taxonomy v1, on 2026-08-30T06:38:04.024353+00:00, confidence not recorded.
  - readme: https://github.com/ricardoquesada/bluepad32 (fetched 2026-08-28T04:03:42.498867+00:00, sha 9e7bb512a21a)
- Data as of 2026-08-30T08:39:29.467469+00:00.