The code for this part was copied from Tawn Kramer's fork of donkeycar.

PS3/PS4 Joystick Controller

The default web controller may be replaced with a one line change to use a physical joystick part for input. This uses the OS device /dev/input/js0 by default. In theory, any joystick device that the OS mounts like this can be used. In practice, the behavior will change depending on the model of joystick ( Sony, or knockoff ), or XBox controller and the Bluetooth driver used to support it. The default code has been written and tested with a Sony brand PS3 Sixaxis controller. Other controllers may work, but will require alternative Bluetooth installs, and tweaks to the software for correct axis and buttons.

These can be used plugged in with a USB cable - but the default code and os driver has a bug polling this configuration. It's been much more stable, and convenient, to setup Bluetooth for a wireless, responsive control.

Install

1. Connect your bluetooth controller to the raspberry pi. See the Bluetooth section below.

2. Install the parts python package.

   pip install git+https://github.com/autorope/donkeypart_ps3_controller.git

3. Import the part at the top of your manage.py script. If you are using a PS4 controller, import PS4JoystickController instead. Same applies in the next step.

   from donkeypart_ps3_controller import PS3JoystickController

4. Replace the controller part of your manage.py to use the JoysticController part.

   ctr = PS3JoystickController(
      throttle_scale=cfg.JOYSTICK_MAX_THROTTLE,
      steering_scale=cfg.JOYSTICK_STEERING_SCALE,
      auto_record_on_throttle=cfg.AUTO_RECORD_ON_THROTTLE
   )
   
    V.add(ctr,
         inputs=['cam/image_array'],
         outputs=['user/angle', 'user/throttle', 'user/mode', 'recording'],
         threaded=True)

5. Add the required config paramters to your config.py file. It should look something like this.

   #JOYSTICK
   JOYSTICK_STEERING_SCALE = 1.0
   AUTO_RECORD_ON_THROTTLE = True

6. Now you're ready to run the python manage.py drive --js command to start your car.

Bluetooth Setup

PS3 Controller

Follow this guide. You can ignore steps past the 'Accessing the SixAxis from Python' section. I will include steps here in case the link becomes stale.

sudo apt-get install bluetooth libbluetooth3 libusb-dev
sudo systemctl enable bluetooth.service
sudo usermod -G bluetooth -a pi

Reboot after changing the user group.

Plug in the PS3 with USB cable. Hit center PS logo button. Get and build the command line pairing tool. Run it:

wget http://www.pabr.org/sixlinux/sixpair.c
gcc -o sixpair sixpair.c -lusb
sudo ./sixpair

Use bluetoothctl to pair

bluetoothctl
agent on
devices
trust <MAC ADDRESS>
default-agent
quit

Unplug USB cable. Hit center PS logo button.

To test that the Bluetooth PS3 remote is working, verify that /dev/input/js0 exists.

ls /dev/input/js0

PS4 Controller

The following instructions are based on RetroPie and ds4drv.

Install ds4drv.

Running on your pi over ssh, you can directly sudo /home/pi/env/bin/pip install ds4drv

Grant permission to ds4drv.

sudo wget https://raw.githubusercontent.com/chrippa/ds4drv/master/udev/50-ds4drv.rules -O /etc/udev/rules.d/50-ds4drv.rules
sudo udevadm control --reload-rules
sudo udevadm trigger

Run ds4drv.

ds4drv --hidraw --led 00ff00. If you see Failed to create input device: "/dev/uinput" cannot be opened for writing, reboot and retry. Probably granting permission step doesn't take effect until rebooting. Some controllers don't work with --hidraw. If that's the case try the command without it. --led 00ff00 changes the light bar color, it's optional.

Start controller in pairing mode.

Press and hold Share button, then press and hold PS button until the light bar starts blinking. If it goes green after a few seconds, pairing is successful.

Run ds4drv in background on startup once booted.

sudo nano /etc/rc.local. paste /home/pi/env/bin/ds4drv --led 00ff00 into the file. Save and exit. Again, with or without --hidraw, depending on the particular controller you are using.

To disconnect, kill the process ds4drv and hold PS for 10 seconds to power off the controller.

Charging PS3 Sixaxis Joystick

For some reason, this joystick doesn't like to charge in a powered USB port that doesn't have an active Bluetooth control and OS driver. This means a phone type USB charger will not work, and charging from a Windows machine doesn't work either.

You can always charge from the Raspberry Pi, though. Just plug the joystick into the Pi and power the Pi using a charger or your PC, and you are good to go.

New Battery for PS3 Sixaxis Joystick

Sometimes these controllers can be quite old. Here's a link to a new battery. Be careful when taking off the cover. Remove 5 screws. There's a tab on the top half between the hand grips. You'll want to split/open it from the front and try pulling the bottom forward as you do, or you'll break the tab off as I did.

Joystick Controls

• Left analog stick - Left and right to adjust steering
• Right analog stick - Forward to increase forward throttle
• Pull back twice on right analog to reverse

Whenever the throttle is not zero, driving data will be recorded - as long as you are in User mode!

• Select button switches modes - "User, Local Angle, Local(angle and throttle)"
• Triangle - Increase max throttle
• X - Decrease max throttle
• Circle - Toggle recording (disabled by default. auto record on throttle is enabled by default)
• dpad up - Increase throttle scale
• dpad down - Decrease throttle scale
• dpad left - Increase steering scale
• dpad right - Decrease steering scale
• Start - Toggle constant throttle. Sets to max throttle (modified by X and Triangle).

Driving tips

Hit the Select button to toggle between three modes - User, Local Angle, and Local Throttle & Angle.

• User - User controls both steering and throttle with joystick
• Local Angle - Ai controls steering, user controls throttle
• Local Throttle & Angle - Ai controls both steering and throttle

When the car is in Local Angle mode, the NN will steer. You must provide throttle.