RC (radio-controlled)
Acronym for Radio-Controlled. Refers to a model (car, drone, boat, plane) piloted remotely via a radio transmitter and an onboard receiver.
Glossary: RC car LEDs + ESP32
50+ technical terms explained simply: RC, electronics, ESP32, BLE, Flare RC effects. A reference for beginners and experts alike.
RC & modeling
Basic radio-controlled modeling vocabulary: components of an RC car, body types, driving.
ESC (speed controller)
Electronic Speed Controller: module that transforms the radio signal into variable power for the motor. Often combined with a BEC. It generates the "throttle" signal we capture with an ESP32.
BEC
Battery Eliminator Circuit. Regulator built into the ESC providing 5-6V to the receiver and servos from the main battery (2S/3S LiPo). Lets you power an Arduino/ESP32 without a separate battery.
RC receiver
Module on board the car that receives the signal from the radio (transmitter) and converts it to PWM or SBus signals for the ESC and servos. Extra channels (CH3, CH4...) drive accessories like LEDs.
Transmitter / radio
The handheld controller. Sends steering/throttle/auxiliary channel commands over 2.4 GHz to the receiver. Common brands: Futaba, Spektrum, FlySky, RadioMaster.
LiPo
Lithium polymer battery. High energy density, lightweight, sold in 1S to 6S packs (3.7V per cell). Standard on modern RC cars. Requires a dedicated charger and care (never short, never overheated).
Brushless / brushed
Brushed = brushed motor, simple, affordable. Brushless = no brushes, more powerful, more efficient, more expensive. Brushless requires a compatible ESC. No impact on Flare RC: we just capture the throttle signal from the receiver.
Crawler
Type of off-road RC car specialized in slow obstacle crossing (rocks, slopes). Realistic 4×4 body, soft suspension, big tires. Ideal target for functional headlight/taillight LEDs.
RC drift
Discipline that mimics car drifting: hard tires, rear-wheel drive, countersteering. Japanese-inspired aesthetics. Very visual-effect heavy: exhaust flames (backfire), underbody neons, light bars.
CH3 (channel 3)
Auxiliary output of the RC receiver, traditionally tied to a button/switch on the radio. Lets you trigger accessories (lights, winch) with 1 click, 2 clicks or held. Flare RC uses it for headlight/fog modes.
Electronics
Electronic components used in a Flare RC build: Arduino/ESP32, LEDs, resistors, MOSFETs, and voltage/current basics.
Arduino
Open-source electronics prototyping platform. Microcontroller boards (Uno, Nano, Mega…) programmable in C/C++ via the Arduino IDE. Flare RC relies on the Arduino ecosystem but uses ESP32s (more powerful, built-in BLE).
ESP32
Family of Espressif Systems microcontrollers with built-in WiFi + Bluetooth. Several variants: WROOM (reference), S3 (many pins), C3 (cheap mini). 32-bit core, ~240 MHz, ideal for driving lots of LEDs over BLE.
ESP32-WROOM
Reference ESP32 module: 34 GPIO, 4 MB flash, built-in antenna. The most widely supported, perfect for Flare RC. Typical board: DOIT ESP32 DevKit V1, ESP32-WROOM-32.
ESP32-S3
Variant with 45 available GPIOs (many more than WROOM), native USB, BLE 5. Ideal for builds with lots of LEDs. Typical board: Arduino Nano ESP32, ESP32-S3 DevKit.
ESP32-C3
Mini variant: RISC-V core, 11 GPIO, 4 MB flash, very cheap (~€3). Good choice for a compact build with up to 5-8 LEDs. Typical board: ESP32-C3 SuperMini.
GPIO
General Purpose Input/Output. Programmable pins on a microcontroller, configurable as input (read a signal) or output (light an LED, drive a MOSFET). Numbered G0, G1, G2… depending on the board. Not all pins are equal: some are reserved (G6-G11 on WROOM = flash).
PWM
Pulse Width Modulation. Technique to simulate a variable voltage by switching a digital output on/off very fast. Lets you vary LED brightness, motor speed, or servo angle.
LEDC
ESP32 hardware peripheral dedicated to PWM for driving LEDs. 16 independent channels on WROOM, 6 on C3. Each channel controls a frequency and duty cycle. This is what lets Flare RC handle many effects in parallel.
MOSFET
Transistor that acts as an electronically controlled switch. Used to drive a load more powerful than a GPIO can directly supply (12V LED strip, motor). N-type (most common), turns on with ~3.3V on the gate.
LED
Light-Emitting Diode. Diode that emits light. Lights up if polarized correctly (+ on anode, - on cathode). Requires a current-limiting resistor in series to avoid burning out.
RGB LED
LED combining 3 R+G+B chips in one package. Can produce any color by mixing. Passive type (3 independent pins, 1 per color) or addressable (1 data pin, built-in intelligence).
WS2812 / NeoPixel
Individually addressable RGB LED, controlled by a single data wire. You can chain hundreds of LEDs and choose each one's color. Powered by 5V. NeoPixel = Adafruit commercial name.
WS2811
A 12V variant (often in SMD strips with groups of 3 LEDs sharing one control chip). Cheap, ideal for long strips. Watch out: color order may be BRG instead of GRB depending on manufacturer.
Resistor
Component that limits current in a circuit. Measured in ohms (Ω). For LEDs: protects the diode (220-470Ω in series with a standard LED). Formula: R = (V_source - V_LED) / I_LED.
VCC / GND
VCC (or V+) = positive supply voltage (often +5V or +3.3V). GND (ground) = 0V reference, return path. All grounds of one assembly must be tied together.
Pull-up / pull-down
Resistor that holds a digital input at a defined state (HIGH with pull-up, LOW with pull-down) when nothing else is driving it. Avoids floating states that produce false signals. ESP32 has internal pull-up/down enableable in code.
Voltage (V) / current (A)
Voltage = electrical "pressure", measured in volts. Current = "amount" of charge flowing, in amperes (A) or milliamps (mA). Power = voltage × current, in watts. A standard LED draws ~20 mA at 2-3V.
Firmware & connectivity
Everything related to the code running on the ESP32 and communication with the Flare RC app.
Firmware
Software embedded in a microcontroller, as opposed to PC or phone software. The Flare RC firmware is a .bin file flashed into the ESP32's flash memory, which starts automatically at boot.
Bootloader
Small program that runs first when the ESP32 boots, deciding what to launch next (the user firmware) or waiting for a flash command if in programming mode.
Flashing
Action of writing a firmware (.bin) into a microcontroller's flash memory via USB. Flare RC offers 1-click flashing from the site (Flash page) without installing any tools — uses WebSerial in Chrome/Edge.
BLE (Bluetooth Low Energy)
Low-power variant of Bluetooth, ideal for connected devices. More efficient than WiFi, range ~10 m, latency ~50 ms. Flare RC uses BLE to drive LEDs in real time from the smartphone app.
WiFi
Wireless network at 2.4 or 5 GHz. The ESP32 supports it, but Flare RC chose BLE instead: lower power, no shared network password needed, direct app↔car pairing.
NUS (Nordic UART Service)
Standard BLE profile emulating a bidirectional serial port (UART). Lets the app and ESP32 exchange simple text messages (short commands). Chosen by Flare RC for its simplicity and Web Bluetooth compatibility.
MTU
Maximum Transmission Unit: max size of a BLE packet (default 23 bytes, negotiable up to 517). Limits each message length. Flare RC fragments long dumps into multiple packets reassembled by the app.
NVS
Non-Volatile Storage: ESP32 memory zone that keeps data across power cuts (like a mini database). Flare RC stores settings, RC calibration, custom LEDs, groups, standalone there.
JSON
JavaScript Object Notation. Simple text format for structuring data (key:value). Readable by humans and machines. Flare RC uses it to exchange configs between the app and ESP32.
Flare RC effects & features
All the lighting effect types available in Flare RC, and the app's operating modes.
Headlight
Front lighting of the car. Flare RC offers 4 ignition styles: LED (instant), Halogen (progressive yellow ramp), Xenon (blue flash then stabilize), Neon (pulsed ramp).
Tail light / brake light
Red lighting at the rear. Stays dim while headlights are ON, jumps to 100% on braking (detected via reversed throttle signal).
Reverse light
White light at the rear, active when reversing. Flare RC has an anti-false-reverse FSM: must observe sustained reverse before lighting up, avoids false positives on throttle release.
Turn signal / hazard
Standard orange blink. Flare RC enables them via CH3 or automatically on steering. Hazard mode blinks both sides at once.
Light bar / beacon
Rotating light bar effect (police, tow truck, fire truck style). Flare RC offers 4 modes: single rotation, double rotation, strobe, alternating flash. Driven via PWM or addressable strip.
Fog light
Additional yellow or white lighting at front or rear, toggleable independently of main headlights. Very realistic on crawlers in "off-road" mode.
Backfire / flames
Exhaust flame effect produced by 3 RGB LEDs driven in sequence (orange→yellow→red) on every sharp throttle release. Very spectacular on RC drift cars.
Engine idle
Slight intensity "wobble" on headlights to mimic an internal combustion engine idle. Independent toggle in the app.
Standalone mode
Autonomous mode where the car plays a lighting sequence in a loop WITHOUT RC remote or connected app. Perfect for a show, display, or demo. Programmable as a step timeline.
LED group
Set of custom LEDs playing a coordinated multi-LED sequence (= custom light bar or chase). Drives its member LEDs and coexists with the rest. Stored in NVS.
Custom LED
Individually configurable LED in the app: name, display color, GPIO, mode (linked to an existing effect or standalone with its own sequence). Up to 10 custom LEDs per board.
Mode / scene
Snapshot of current settings and states (intensity, colors, active effects), one-tap activatable in the Control tab. Each project can have several scenes (e.g., Day, Night, Auto Show).