Controller PS4/PS5 Bluetooth Receiver

Dual-hub Bluetooth setups waste resources and drop out; infrared remotes have few buttons and need line of sight; 2.4G receivers interfere with each other when many robots share a venue.

The Controller PS4/PS5 Bluetooth Receiver lets SPIKE, EV3 or Arduino read every button and stick of a PS4 (DualShock 4) or PS5 (DualSense) gamepad. Pair once and it remembers; after that it reconnects automatically at power-on. At competitions it never connects to another team's gamepad, and if the signal drops all outputs go to zero so the robot cannot run away.

• Works with PS4 and PS5 gamepads: DualShock 4 and DualSense
• Bonds to your gamepad only: once paired, Bluetooth scanning switches off, so it never grabs another team's gamepad and ignores gamepads pairing nearby — made for venues with dozens of teams
• Stops on signal loss: if no gamepad data arrives for 0.3 s, outputs reset to zero — no runaway robots
• Pairing memory: pair once, reconnects automatically at every power-on
• 📶 Stable link: solid across a normal competition venue (tested up to 100 m in open space)
• 🕹️ Full controls: twin sticks, analog triggers, D-pad and every function button; the I2C edition also controls rumble and the light bar

Feature	2.4G (PS2)	Bluetooth (PS4/PS5)
Gamepad	PS2 2.4G wireless gamepad	PS4, PS5 gamepads
Stability with many devices	⚠️ May interfere	✅ Bonds to your gamepad only
Pairing memory (auto-connect)	❌	✅
Zero outputs on signal loss	—	✅ 0.3 s
Range	About 10-15 m	Stable across a venue (100 m tested in open space)
Analog triggers	❌	✅

Platform	How
LEGO SPIKE Prime / Robot Inventor	Official app, Pybricks
LEGO SPIKE Essential	Not supported
LEGO MINDSTORMS EV3	EV3 official software, Pybricks
Arduino / ESP32 / Raspberry Pi	Universal I2C (address 0x42), Arduino Examples
MakeBlock (mBot etc.)	Dedicated edition, blocks & wiring

Important

Each platform is a different factory edition; please order the one that matches your controller.

1. Plug the receiver into SPIKE (Port AF) or EV3 (Port 14) and power on. Universal I2C edition: receiver TX → SCL (A5 on the UNO), RX → SDA (A4 on the UNO), VCC → 5V, GND → GND. See the Arduino Examples for details.
2. First use or switching gamepads: press the Reset button on the receiver. It opens a 30-second pairing window.
3. Within those 30 seconds put the gamepad into pairing mode:
   • PS4 gamepad: hold SHARE + PS until the light bar flashes rapidly
   • PS5 gamepad: hold Create + PS until the light bar flashes rapidly
4. The first gamepad that connects is remembered and scanning stops. From then on just switch the gamepad on and it reconnects.

Tip

At a competition, pair at your own table so no other team's gamepad is in pairing mode during those 30 seconds. Bonded the wrong one? Press Reset and pair again.

Hub	Files
SPIKE App	ps4_demo_spike_prime_v3.4.3.llsp3
Robot Inventor	ps4_demo_robot_inventor_v10.5.0.lms
SPIKE (Pybricks 4.1)	Download all (.zip) · Library MBC_gamepad_Lib.py · Shared library MBC_sensors.py (for new projects) · Beginner examples
SPIKE (Pybricks 3.6.1, no longer updated)	Old files are under "Legacy (no longer updated)" on the Downloads page
mBot etc. (MakeBlock)	Block extension and controller example

Stick values: EV3 0 ~ 99 (50 = center); SPIKE (official app, Pybricks) 1 ~ 9 (5 = center). Pushing up or right increases the value.

EV3 Modes

Mode	Content
0	D-pad state
1	D-pad, left stick X, shape buttons (▲ ● ✕ ■), left stick Y, shoulder buttons (L2 R2 L1 R1), right stick X, function buttons (SHARE L3 R3 OPTIONS), right stick Y
2	Left stick X, left stick Y, right stick X, right stick Y

See the MBC Universal I2C Protocol for shared rules and Arduino helpers.

Tip

No coding experience? No problem: see the Arduino Examples. Every example can be copied and uploaded right away, with an English note on every line.

Note

The receiver has built-in level shifting and connects directly to 5 V boards like the Arduino UNO. Wait 2 ms after writing the register number before reading.

How to read: write [ID] → wait 2 ms → read 2×k bytes: k values starting at that ID (each value is an int16, low byte first, k ≤ 16). Unknown IDs return -32768. Values read in one go are from the same instant.

ID	Value	Content
0x01	16 buttons	All 16 buttons in one number (1 = pressed): b0 SHARE, b1 L3, b2 R3, b3 OPTIONS, b4 up, b5 right, b6 down, b7 left, b8 L2, b9 R2, b10 L1, b11 R1, b12 ▲, b13 ●, b14 ✕, b15 ■; 0 when not connected. ⚠️ Read as int16, ■ alone is -32768 (same as "no value"): cast to uint16_t before testing
0x02	D-pad	0 ~ 15: up 1, right 2, down 4, left 8 (added when pressed together)
0x03	Shape buttons	0 ~ 15: ▲ 1, ● 2, ✕ 4, ■ 8
0x04	Shoulder buttons	0 ~ 15: L2 1, R2 2, L1 4, R1 8
0x05	Function buttons	0 ~ 15: SHARE 1, L3 2, R3 4, OPTIONS 8
0x06	Connected	1 = gamepad connected with data in the last 300 ms, 0 = not (while disconnected, buttons, sticks and triggers read 0)
0x07	Battery	0 ~ 100
0x08, 0x09	L2, R2 analog triggers	0 ~ 255 (how far pressed)
0x0A	System buttons	b0 = PS button, b1 = Capture button (PS5: Mute)
0x0B	Gamepad type	0 = none, 3 = PS4 gamepad, 4 = PS5 or other Bluetooth gamepad
0x10 ~ 0x13	Sticks LX, LY, RX, RY	-100 ~ +100, 0 = center, right / up positive, dead zone applied

Command	Parameters	What it does
E5	[strength 0 ~ 255]	Rumble for 200 ms; 0 = stop
E6	[R][G][B], 0 ~ 255 each	Light bar color, exactly 3 bytes; remembered while disconnected and applied on connect; default blue

F0 device ID: low byte 0x42, high byte 2 (= PS4; the PS2 receiver reports 1). For F1–F5, F8 (change address) and EF (restart) see the MBC Universal I2C Protocol. How to read it from Arduino, and every value in detail: Arduino IDE guide.

// Uses mbcReadMany() / mbcWrite() from the MBC Universal I2C Protocol page (they wait 2 ms after the ID)
int16_t v[5];
if (mbcReadMany(0x42, 0x01, 5, v)) {   // 0x01 16 buttons, 0x02 D-pad, 0x03 shape, 0x04 shoulder, 0x05 function
  uint16_t btn = (uint16_t)v[0];
  bool cross = btn & (1 << 14);         // ✕ button (b14)
  bool up = v[1] & 1;                   // D-pad: up = 1
}
int16_t s[4];
mbcReadMany(0x42, 0x10, 4, s);          // sticks LX, LY, RX, RY: -100 ~ +100

uint8_t red[3] = {255, 0, 0};
mbcWrite(0x42, 0xE6, red, 3);           // light bar red (exactly 3 bytes)