PotAsAxis.ino is detected by phone but not by AndroidTV

[FBMinis]

I am trying to make a minimal joystick to play Picasim on my TV.

I am using an ESP32-C3 Supermini two potentiometers connected to it. I uploaded PotAsAxis.ino and defined only one potentiometer for testing.

Smartphone with Android 9: the gamepad pairs normally by bluetooth; using Game Controller Tester app I can see the XX axis moving when I move the pot; the joystick function inside Picasim responds to moving my pot, I can fly the glider.

Tablet with Android 6: the gamepad pairs normally by bluetooth; using Game Controller Tester app I can see the XX axis moving when I move the pot; Picasim shows "no joystick detected"

AndroidTV: the gamepad pairs normally by bluetooth; using Game Controller Tester app I cannot see the XX axis moving when I move the pot; Picasim detects a joystick but the joystick values do not change when I move my pot.

I guess the problem is how my devices see the gamepad. I guess for certain systems I might need to config some specific characteristics but after having tried multiple options I still havent been able to fix this...

(The final device will only need two pots and 6 buttons, maximum)

[FBMinis]

#include <Wire.h>
#include <Adafruit_ADS1X15.h>

#include <Arduino.h>
#include <BleGamepad.h>

BleGamepad bleGamepad;

Adafruit_ADS1115 ads;

// --- Calibration Constants (Adjust based on your measurements) ---
// X-AXIS (A0/A1) Calibration - Using your observed range
const int16_t X_RAW_MIN = -13000;
const int16_t X_RAW_MAX = 13000;

// Y-AXIS (A2/A3) Calibration - Use the same limits as X-axis initially, but
// measure the Y-axis extremes and adjust these if they are different.
const int16_t Y_RAW_MIN = -11000;
const int16_t Y_RAW_MAX = 12000;
// ------------------------------------------------------------------


const int delayBetweenHIDReports = 5; // Additional delay in milliseconds between HID reports

void setup(void) {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  Wire.begin(8, 9); // ESP32-C3 I2C pins

  if (!ads.begin()) {
    Serial.println("Failed to find ADS1115 chip. Check wiring.");
    while (1);
  }

  // Set Programmable Gain (PGA) to 16 for max resolution on small signals.
  ads.setGain(GAIN_SIXTEEN);
  Serial.println("ADS1115 configured for Dual Axis (Gain x16)");

  Serial.println("Starting BLE work!");
  bleGamepad.begin();
}

void loop(void) {
  
  if (bleGamepad.isConnected())
  {
    // Read X-Axis (Differential Channel A2/A3)
    int16_t x_raw = ads.readADC_Differential_2_3();

    // Read Y-Axis (Differential Channel A0/A1)
    int16_t y_raw = ads.readADC_Differential_0_1();

    // --- Process X-Axis ---
    // Constrain and map the X raw reading to a 0-1023 scale
    int16_t x_constrained = constrain(x_raw, X_RAW_MIN, X_RAW_MAX);

    // --- Process Y-Axis ---
    // Constrain and map the Y raw reading to a 0-1023 scale
    int16_t y_constrained = constrain(y_raw, Y_RAW_MIN, Y_RAW_MAX);
    
    int adjusted_x = map(x_constrained, X_RAW_MIN, X_RAW_MAX, 32737, 0);
    int adjusted_y = map(y_constrained, Y_RAW_MIN, Y_RAW_MAX, 32737, 0);

    // Update X and Y axes and auto-send report
    bleGamepad.setX(adjusted_x);
    bleGamepad.setY(adjusted_y);
    
    delay(delayBetweenHIDReports);
  }
}

[LeeNX]

The AndroidTV(Android 6 device) might not support the gamepad API as well as later releases of Android. A workaround, could be to use just the D-Pad function, unless you really need the flexibility of an analog joystick.

You could also see if change the controller type to joystick instead of the default gamepad helps, like in

ESP32-BLE-Gamepad/examples/DrivingControllerTest/DrivingControllerTest.ino

Line 42 in 442a4ec

bleGamepadConfig.setControllerType(CONTROLLER_TYPE_GAMEPAD); // CONTROLLER_TYPE_JOYSTICK, CONTROLLER_TYPE_GAMEPAD (DEFAULT), CONTROLLER_TYPE_MULTI_AXIS

Some info, but no details on what is supported, as in hardware or protocol - https://minimum-viable-product.github.io/marshmallow-docs/training/game-controllers/compatibility.html

Another idea would be to try ESP32-BLE-CompositeHID which is more an XBox gamepad implementation, thou I don't remember at what Android release support the XBox gamepad.

Remember to delete/forget/unpair your old gamepad between changes, else things might not look like they change.

Best of luck.