🦕 Chrome Dino Jump Controller

Play the Chrome Dinosaur game by physically jumping while wearing a hat.

Clip your ESP32 and MPU6050 to the brim of a cap, open chrome://dino in your browser, pair over Bluetooth, and jump — the accelerometer detects the motion and sends a spacebar keypress wirelessly to your PC in real time, making the dinosaur jump on screen.

No button. No keyboard. No controller. Just a hat, a jump, and a dinosaur avoiding cacti.

Built with an ESP32 / ESP32-C3 and an MPU6050 accelerometer, designed to be mounted on a hat for hands-free wearable play.

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🧠 How It Works

1. The MPU6050 is mounted on the hat brim and measures acceleration on the Z axis 10 times per second
2. When you jump, your body (and hat) briefly exerts more than 1.5g of upward force
3. The ESP32 detects this spike and sends an 8-byte HID keyboard report over BLE
4. Windows receives it identically to a real keyboard pressing spacebar
5. The Chrome Dino jumps on screen in sync with you
6. The cooldown timer prevents one jump from firing multiple times

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🎬 Here's a Demo

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⭐ Recommended: ESP32 (Regular)

If you are buying parts specifically for this project, get a regular ESP32 (not C3). It is significantly easier to set up, uses a simpler library, and has better community support. The ESP32-C3 version is documented below for those who already have one.

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📦 Parts List

Part	Notes
ESP32 Dev Board	Any standard ESP32 with 30 or 38 pins
MPU6050	GY-521 breakout board recommended
Jumper wires	4 wires needed
USB cable	Must be data cable, not charge-only
PC with Bluetooth	Built-in or USB Bluetooth adapter
Cap / Hat	Baseball cap works best — firm brim to mount components on
Small velcro strips or zip ties	To secure ESP32 and MPU6050 to the hat brim
3.7V 18500 LiPo battery + holder	For wireless use — holder has red and black wires ready to connect
TP4056 charging module (6-pin)	Must be the 6-pin version with OUT+ and OUT- (has DW01 protection chip)
Rocker switch	SPDT 3-pin, for turning the device on and off

💡 Mounting tip: Attach the MPU6050 flat against the top of the hat brim pointing upward so the Z axis faces the sky. This gives the cleanest jump detection. Secure the ESP32 to the side of the brim or tuck it into the hat band.

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🔌 Wiring (ESP32)

MPU6050 to ESP32

MPU6050 Pin	ESP32 Pin
VCC	3.3V
GND	GND
SDA	GPIO 21
SCL	GPIO 22
AD0	GND
INT	Not connected

⚠️ Always use 3.3V not 5V. The ESP32 is not 5V tolerant and 5V will damage the MPU6050.

Battery Circuit

From	To
18500 Holder RED wire	Switch outer pin
Switch middle pin	TP4056 B+
18500 Holder BLACK wire	TP4056 B-
TP4056 OUT+	ESP32 VIN
TP4056 OUT-	ESP32 GND

⚠️ Always connect to VIN or 5V pin on the ESP32, never the 3.3V pin directly — that bypasses the regulator and can damage the board.

Full Power Chain

18500 (+)          18500 (-)
    ↓                  ↓
  Switch           TP4056 B-
    ↓                  ↓
TP4056 B+        TP4056 OUT-
    ↓                  ↓
TP4056 OUT+      ESP32 GND ──────────────────┐
    ↓                                        ↓
ESP32 VIN                              MPU6050 GND
    ↓
3.3V regulator
    ↓
MPU6050 VCC

💡 Switch wiring: The rocker switch has 3 pins and 2 holes per pin. Use the horizontal hole on each pin — thread your wire through and solder it. The vertical holes are for PCB mounting only. Use the outer pin and middle pin only, leave the third pin empty.

💡 Charging: Plug USB into the TP4056 to charge the battery. Red LED = charging, Blue/Green LED = fully charged. You can charge with the switch in either position.

⚠️ Always connect to VIN or 5V pin on the ESP32, never the 3.3V pin directly — that bypasses the regulator and can damage the board.

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💻 ESP32 Installation (Recommended)

Step 1 — Install Arduino IDE

Download and install Arduino IDE from https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

Step 2 — Install ESP32 Board Package

1. Open Arduino IDE
2. Go to File → Preferences
3. In Additional Boards Manager URLs paste:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

4. Click OK
5. Go to Tools → Board → Boards Manager
6. Search esp32
7. Find esp32 by Espressif Systems
8. Select version 2.0.17 from the dropdown
9. Click Install and wait

⚠️ Version matters. Use 2.0.17 specifically. Version 3.x breaks the BLE Keyboard library.

Step 3 — Install Libraries

Go to Sketch → Include Library → Manage Libraries and install these one by one:

Library	Author	Search term
ESP32 BLE Keyboard	T-vK	ESP32 BLE Keyboard
MPU6050	Electronic Cats	MPU6050

For ESP32 BLE Keyboard — if it does not appear in Library Manager, install manually:

1. Go to https://github.com/T-vK/ESP32-BLE-Keyboard
2. Click Code → Download ZIP
3. In Arduino IDE: Sketch → Include Library → Add .ZIP Library

💡 Wire.h is a built-in Arduino library and comes pre-installed — you do not need to download it.

Step 4 — Configure Board Settings

Go to Tools and set:

Setting	Value
Board	ESP32 Dev Module
Port	Your COM port (appears when ESP32 is plugged in)
Upload Speed	115200

Step 5 — Upload the Code

1. Download Jump_controller_esp32.ino from this repo
2. Open it in Arduino IDE
3. Click Upload
4. Open Serial Monitor at 115200 baud
5. You should see:

MPU6050 ready.
BLE advertising started.
Waiting for BLE...

Step 6 — Pair with Windows

1. Windows Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Add device
2. Click Bluetooth
3. Select Jump Controller
4. Serial Monitor should print Connected!

Step 7 — Test It

Open chrome://dino in Chrome and jump — the dinosaur should jump with you. Adjust jumpThreshold in the code if it is too sensitive or not sensitive enough:

float jumpThreshold = 1.5; // increase to require bigger jump
                            // decrease if jumps aren't registering

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⚙️ ESP32-C3 Installation

Use this section only if you already have an ESP32-C3. If you are buying parts, use the ESP32 version above — it is much simpler.

Additional Parts Notes

Everything is the same as the ESP32 version. The only wiring difference is that SDA moves from GPIO 21 to GPIO 8 and SCL moves from GPIO 22 to GPIO 9. All other connections — VCC, GND, AD0, and the entire battery circuit — remain identical to the ESP32 diagram above.

🔌 Wiring (ESP32-C3)

MPU6050 Pin	ESP32-C3 Pin
VCC	3.3V
GND	GND
SDA	GPIO 8 ← only change from ESP32
SCL	GPIO 9 ← only change from ESP32
AD0	GND
INT	Not connected

The battery circuit (TP4056, switch, 18500 holder) is wired exactly the same as the ESP32 version above.

Step 1 — Install Arduino IDE

Download and install Arduino IDE from https://www.arduino.cc/en/software

Step 2 — Install ESP32 Board Package

1. Open Arduino IDE
2. Go to File → Preferences
3. In Additional Boards Manager URLs paste:

https://raw.githubusercontent.com/espressif/arduino-esp32/gh-pages/package_esp32_index.json

4. Click OK
5. Go to Tools → Board → Boards Manager
6. Search esp32
7. Find esp32 by Espressif Systems
8. Install the latest version (3.x is fine for C3)

Step 3 — Install Libraries

Go to Sketch → Include Library → Manage Libraries and install:

Library	Author	Search term
NimBLE-Arduino	h2zero	NimBLE-Arduino
MPU6050	Electronic Cats	MPU6050

The ESP32-C3 uses NimBLE instead of the standard BLE Keyboard library. Do not install ESP32 BLE Keyboard for this version.

💡 Wire.h is a built-in Arduino library and comes pre-installed — you do not need to download it.

Step 4 — Configure Board Settings

Go to Tools and set:

Setting	Value
Board	ESP32C3 Dev Module
Port	Your COM port
USB CDC On Boot	Enabled ← critical, Serial will not work without this
Upload Speed	115200

⚠️ USB CDC On Boot must be Enabled. This is the most commonly missed step on ESP32-C3.

Step 5 — Upload the Code

1. Download Jump_controller_esp32_c3.ino from this repo
2. Open it in Arduino IDE
3. Click Upload
4. If upload fails, hold the BOOT button on the board while clicking Upload, release when you see Connecting...
5. Open Serial Monitor at 115200 baud
6. Press the RST button on the board
7. You should see:

MPU6050 ready.
BLE advertising started!
Waiting for connection...

Step 6 — Pair with Windows

1. If you have paired before, go to Settings → Bluetooth → Jump Controller → Remove device first
2. Windows Settings → Bluetooth & devices → Add device
3. Click Bluetooth
4. Select Jump Controller
5. Windows will complete a secure pairing — Serial Monitor should print:

BLE Connected!
Encrypted connection established!

Step 7 — Test It

Open chrome://dino in Chrome and jump. Adjust sensitivity in the code:

float jumpThreshold = 1.5; // increase to require bigger jump
                            // decrease if jumps aren't registering

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🔧 Troubleshooting

Problem	Solution
Serial Monitor shows nothing	Enable USB CDC On Boot (C3) or check baud is 115200
Jump Controller not appearing in Bluetooth	Check Serial Monitor is printing, restart ESP32
Connects then immediately disconnects	Remove device from Windows and re-pair from scratch
MPU6050 not found	Check wiring, ensure VCC is 3.3V not 5V, power cycle board
Upload fails	Hold BOOT button while uploading, close Serial Monitor first
Jumps not registering	Lower jumpThreshold value (try 1.2)
Too many false triggers	Raise jumpThreshold value (try 2.0)
Disconnects after a few minutes	Device Manager → HID Keyboard Device → Power Management → uncheck allow PC to turn off
No power from battery	Check switch wiring, confirm TP4056 has 6 pins with OUT+ and OUT-

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⚙️ Configuration

Both versions share these settings at the top of the sketch:

float jumpThreshold = 1.5;        // g-force required to trigger (1.0 = gravity)
unsigned long jumpCooldown = 500; // ms between jumps (prevents double triggers)

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📡 How BLE HID Works

When a keyboard sends a keypress to a computer it sends a fixed 8-byte block called a HID report. Every keyboard in the world uses this same format defined by the USB HID specification. Your ESP32 sends this exact format over BLE.

The 8-Byte Report

Byte 0  │  Byte 1  │  Byte 2  │  Byte 3  │  Byte 4  │  Byte 5  │  Byte 6  │  Byte 7
─────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────────
Modifier │ Reserved │  Key 1   │  Key 2   │  Key 3   │  Key 4   │  Key 5   │  Key 6

• Byte 0 — modifier keys (Ctrl, Shift, Alt etc.) as individual bits. 0x00 for plain spacebar
• Byte 1 — always 0x00, reserved by the HID spec and never used
• Bytes 2–7 — up to 6 simultaneous keycodes. 0x2C is the spacebar keycode

Pressing spacebar sends:

{ 0x00, 0x00, 0x2C, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 }

Releasing sends:

{ 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00, 0x00 }

Both reports are required — without the release report Windows thinks the key is held forever.

The Report Descriptor

Before any keypresses are sent the device tells Windows what format to expect. This is the report descriptor — a schema that defines the 8-byte structure. Windows uses it to install the device as a standard keyboard with no custom drivers needed.

Common Keycodes

Key	HID Keycode
Space	0x2C
Enter	0x28
Arrow Up	0x52
Arrow Down	0x51
Arrow Left	0x50
Arrow Right	0x4F
W	0x1A
A	0x04
S	0x16
D	0x07
Escape	0x29

Swap 0x2C in the press array for any of these to send a different key instead of spacebar.

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📁 Repo Structure

JumpController/
├── images/
│   ├── demo.gif                ← gameplay demo
│   ├── wiring_esp32.png        ← circuit diagram
│   └── breadboard.jpg          ← completed breadboard photo
├── Jump_controller_esp32.ino       ← use this for regular ESP32
├── Jump_controller_esp32_c3.ino    ← use this for ESP32-C3
└── README.md

📌 Which file should I use?

• Regular ESP32 → Jump_controller_esp32.ino
• ESP32-C3 → Jump_controller_esp32_c3.ino

Do not mix them up — the libraries and pin numbers are different between the two versions.

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📄 License

Do whatever you want with this. Put it on a hat. Jump around.