GB Remote — User Manual

A plain-English guide for DIY electric skateboard builders.

1. Welcome

Thank you for choosing the GB Remote. It's the handheld half of the GB system: it talks to a GB Receiver on your board over Bluetooth so you can accelerate, brake, and read live data — speed, battery, distance — without anything getting in the way.

This manual covers the remote. Wiring, pairing, failsafes, and firmware updates for the board side are in the GB Receiver manual.

2. How the System Works

   [ Remote ] <-- Bluetooth --> [ Receiver ] <-- CAN bus --> [ VESC(s) ] --> [ Motor ]

Remote — reads your throttle, shows your speed and battery, sends commands to the receiver.
Receiver — mounted on your board. Drives your VESC(s) and sends live data back to the remote.

Once set up, you only ever touch the remote.

3. What You Need

A GB Remote (Lite, Dual Throttle, Dual Pro, or Pro)
A GB Receiver (or a VESC Express running the GB receiver script), installed on your board
A USB-C cable for charging and for the web config tool
A laptop with Chrome, Edge, or Opera for the web config tool (setup, calibration, firmware updates)

4. Remote Versions

The GB Remote comes in four flavors. They all do the same core job; the differences are how you accelerate/brake, screen size, and whether the screen is touch.

Version	Screen	Throttle	Touch	Best for
Lite	240x320 TFT LCD	Single throttle (trigger)	No	Simple, classic skateboard remote feel
Dual Throttle	172x320 TFT LCD	Separate throttle + brake	No	Motorcycle-style control with a dedicated brake lever
Dual Pro	172x320 TFT LCD	Separate throttle + brake	Yes	Dual throttle with a touch screen
Pro	368x448 AMOLED	Single throttle	Yes	The premium experience, bright AMOLED display

Single vs. dual throttle: On Lite and Pro, one input handles both forward and braking — push one way from neutral to go, the other way to brake. On Dual Throttle and Dual Pro, the throttle only accelerates and a separate lever brakes proportionally.

Throttle inversion (flipping the throttle direction in software) is available only on single-throttle versions (Lite and Pro).

5. Safety First

Always wear a helmet. Wrist guards, knee pads, and slide gloves are not optional at speed.
Test in a safe, open area before riding in traffic, on hills, or at speed.
Walk before you run. After any setup change — new firmware, new calibration, new wheels — do a low-speed test first.
Never ride with a low remote battery. If the remote dies mid-ride, the receiver will brake you to a stop on its own — but you don't want to find that out by surprise.
Bluetooth has a range. Typical range is 10–30 meters and depends on your body, your board, and the environment.
Read this entire manual before your first ride, especially section 13 (Safety Features).

6. Quick Start

Charge the remote — plug in USB-C. A circular charge indicator appears on screen. Charge to full.
Pair it with your receiver — first time only. The pairing is done from the receiver's WiFi page; see section 11.
Calibrate the throttle — plug the remote into a laptop, open the config tool, click "Calibrate Throttle", and move the throttle through its full range when prompted.
Ride. Power on both devices, wait a second or two for the connection icon, and go.

7. Charging Your Remote

Plug a USB-C cable into the remote and connect to any USB power source — phone charger, laptop, power bank.

What you'll see while charging:

A large circular progress ring with the battery percentage and a lightning bolt
The remote stays in "charging mode" while plugged in — Bluetooth is off to save power

Two ways to leave charging mode:

Unplug — the remote goes to sleep a moment later
Long-press the button — the remote boots fully and is ready to ride

A full charge takes about an hour and a half from empty. The percentage is filtered to update smoothly, so it may take a few seconds to reflect a change.

8. Turning the Remote On and Off

Powering On

From sleep, press and hold the button for about half a second. The screen lights up, the remote vibrates, and a splash screen shows the firmware version and the remote's Bluetooth ID (MAC address). After a couple of seconds you arrive at the home screen.

Powering Off

A two-step process so you don't shut down by accident mid-ride:

Press the button once. A small lock icon appears. The remote is "armed" for shutdown.
Press and hold the button again. A progress bar fills (about three quarters of a second). The remote vibrates twice and turns off.

If you don't follow the single press with a long press within about a second, the arming cancels.

Shutting down this way tells the receiver first, so it does not trigger the receiver's failsafe brake.

Automatic Sleep

5 minutes of no input while not connected to a receiver → the remote shuts down
While connected to a receiver → the remote never auto-shuts-down

Low Battery Shutdown

Below 2.95 V per cell, the remote vibrates, shows a 2-second low-battery warning, and shuts off. The throttle is locked to neutral at this voltage. A dying remote is a dangerous remote.

9. Understanding the Screen

The home screen shows:

Connection icon — Bluetooth signal strength. No icon means disconnected.
Remote battery — percentage, with a lightning bolt when charging.
Board battery — a percentage when the receiver has a BMS, or when Battery Cells is set in the config tool; otherwise pack voltage.
Speed — the big number, in km/h or mph.
Trip distance — since your last odometer reset.
Temperatures — motor and motor-controller (FET) temperatures in Celsius.
Aux output indicator — visible when the auxiliary output is on.

With Dual Connection enabled, the home screen shows a battery and trip distance for each receiver.

Screen brightness is adjustable from 1% to 100% in the web config tool (default 50%).

Other Screens

Splash screen — logo, firmware version, and Bluetooth ID (useful when pairing).
Charging screen — shown whenever plugged in.
Shutdown screen — progress bar while holding to power off.
Low-battery warning — 2 seconds before the remote turns itself off.

10. The Button — Every Press Explained

Action	On home screen	On charging screen	Asleep
Single press	Arms shutdown (lock icon appears)	—	—
Double press	Toggles aux output ON/OFF (short vibration). Requires connection	—	—
Long press (~half second)	Shuts down if armed	Boots into ride mode	Powers on

Rule of thumb:

One click + a long press = power off
Two clicks = toggle accessories
Long press from sleep or charging = power on

11. Pairing With a Receiver

Pairing is done once, from the receiver's WiFi page. After that, the remote and receiver connect automatically every time both are on. A receiver remembers up to 4 remotes.

Power on the board with the remote off. After about 60 seconds the receiver starts a WiFi network named GB-RX-XXXXXX (password gbreceiver).
Join it and open http://192.168.4.1.
Power on your remote and note the Bluetooth ID on its splash screen.
Tap Pair New Remote, then Pair next to the matching ID.
The WiFi closes a few seconds later and the remote connects.

Full details, including unpairing, are in the GB Receiver manual.

Dual Connection (One Remote, Two Receivers)

A remote can drive two receivers at the same time. Turn on Dual Connection in the remote config tool, then pair the remote with each receiver. The remote sends the same throttle to both, and the home screen shows a battery and trip distance for each. With Dual Connection off (the default), the remote connects to one receiver only.

12. Riding Your Board

Throttle and Brake

Single throttle (Lite, Pro): one side of neutral accelerates, the other brakes. Direction depends on calibration and the throttle-inversion setting.
Dual throttle (Dual Throttle, Dual Pro): the throttle lever only accelerates. The brake lever applies proportional braking and reduces or overrides the throttle.

The board always brakes before changing direction — it only reverses once essentially stopped.

Smart Reverse

Off by default. Turn it on with the Smart Reverse toggle in the config tool. When enabled, light brake while stopped just holds the board; to reverse, hold the brake past about 92% while stopped and the board ramps gently backwards until you release. The setting is saved on the remote and sent to the receiver every time they connect. See the GB Receiver manual for exact behavior.

Neutral Hold on Connection

For the first second after connecting, the remote sends neutral regardless of throttle position, so the board can't launch if you're holding the throttle when the system comes up.

Live Data

Speed updates 50 times per second
Battery updates about once per second
Trip distance counts up as you ride
Connection icon updates every few seconds

Speed Units

Switch between km/h and mph in the web config tool. Speed is computed by the receiver from your VESC's motor poles, gear ratio, and wheel diameter — you don't enter these on the remote.

13. Safety Features

Link loss braking — if the remote dies, goes out of range, or stops sending, the receiver gently brakes the board to a stop. Details in the GB Receiver manual.
Clean shutdown — powering off with the button tells the receiver, so it doesn't brake.
Low battery throttle lockout — at low voltage only neutral is sent (section 8).
Neutral hold on connect — section 12.
Two-step power off — prevents accidental shutdowns (section 8).
Encrypted Bluetooth with bonding — only paired receivers can connect.

14. The Web Configuration Tool

Settings live in the web config tool, not on the remote.

Where: gbengineering.se/config-tool

Requirements: Chrome, Edge, or Opera (other browsers don't support USB serial), a USB-C cable, and the remote plugged into your computer. Click Connect and pick the remote from the list.

Settings

Speed Unit — km/h or mph
Backlight — 1% to 100%
Haptic — Low / Medium / High
Throttle Inversion (Lite and Pro only)
Smart Reverse — reverse by holding full brake while stopped (section 12)
Dual Connection — drive two receivers (section 11)
Battery Cells (5S–20S) and Cell Type (Li-ion high drain, Li-ion high capacity, LiFePO4, LiPo) — estimate board battery percentage from voltage when the receiver has no BMS
Calibrate Throttle (section 15)
Trim (section 16)
Reset Odometer

You can also see live throttle/brake values, Bluetooth status, and telemetry while connected to a board.

Crash Reports

If the remote has crashed, the tool detects the crash log on the next connection and offers to send it to GB Engineering. Sharing is voluntary.

15. Throttle Calibration

The remote needs to know what your throttle reads when fully released and fully pulled.

Calibration is required before riding. Without it, the remote sends neutral and the board won't move.

How to Calibrate

Plug the remote into your laptop via USB-C
Open the config tool and connect
Click Calibrate Throttle
For 6 seconds, move the throttle slowly through its full range, back and forth. The tool shows live readings.
Dual-throttle versions: repeat for the brake lever.

Calibration succeeds if the range is at least 150 ADC units. If it fails (stuck pot, too-small range, loose wire), the tool tells you why and the previous calibration is kept.

On success the remote vibrates, and the values are saved — they survive reboots and firmware updates.

When to Re-Calibrate

First-time setup
After replacing the throttle
If the throttle won't reach full power or doesn't fully release
After hardware changes to the remote

16. Trim — Fine-Tuning Your Throttle

Trim shifts the throttle's neutral point, to remove slight drift or bias neutral toward acceleration or braking. The full throttle range is preserved on both sides.

Range -127 to +127, default 0. Adjust it in the config tool while connected to a receiver. Changes take effect immediately and are saved.

17. Trip Odometer

Trip distance is measured by the receiver and shown on the remote, in km or miles. It persists across power cycles and stays with the board if you swap remotes.

To reset: click Reset Odometer in the config tool (or on the receiver's web page).

18. Auxiliary Output (Lights, Horn, etc.)

Double-press the button while connected to toggle the receiver's auxiliary output. You'll feel a short vibration and the aux indicator appears or disappears on screen. The state is remembered across power cycles.

The aux output is a control signal, not a power source — see the GB Receiver manual for wiring.

19. Firmware Updates

Updating via the Config Tool

Plug the remote into your laptop
Connect with the config tool
If a newer version is available, a notification appears
Click Flash Latest and wait — typically a couple of minutes
Stay plugged in until the tool says it's done

Receiver firmware can also be updated over WiFi — see the GB Receiver manual.

Manual Recovery

If the remote gets into a bad state (e.g. an interrupted update), use Manual Recovery in the config tool:

Pick your exact remote model
Choose whether to preserve settings or fully erase
Enter bootloader mode: hold BOOT, press RESET, release BOOT
Reflash

20. Troubleshooting

The Remote Won't Turn On

Charged? Plug into USB-C — the charging screen appears within a couple of seconds.
Holding long enough? At least half a second.
Completely dead? Charge for a few minutes first.

The Remote Won't Connect to the Receiver

Is the board powered? The receiver LED should glow at least dimly.
Paired? See section 11.
In range? Typically 10–30 meters.
Power cycle both remote and board.

The Throttle Feels Sluggish or Won't Reach Full Power

Re-calibrate (section 15).
Check trim — a large offset compresses one side.
Inspect the throttle for grit or binding.

The Throttle Is Backwards

Lite and Pro: toggle Throttle Inversion.
Dual Throttle and Dual Pro: inversion isn't supported.

The Board Won't Reverse

With Smart Reverse on, you must be stopped and hold the brake past about 92%.

The Board Brakes Suddenly While Riding

Connection lost? Check the connection icon.
Remote battery died? Low battery locks the throttle and shuts the remote off.
Out of range or interference?

The Board Battery Shows Voltage Instead of Percentage

No BMS is connected to the receiver. Set Battery Cells and Cell Type in the config tool to get an estimated percentage.

The Remote Crashed

Plug it in — the config tool offers to send the crash report.
Power cycle it.
As a last resort, use Manual Recovery (section 19).

21. Specifications

Processor: ESP32-S3
Display: 240x320 TFT (Lite), 172x320 TFT (Dual Throttle / Dual Pro), 368x448 AMOLED (Pro)
Touch: Dual Pro and Pro only
Throttle: Hall sensor / potentiometer via 12-bit ADC
Wireless: Bluetooth Low Energy, 2.4 GHz, 10–30 m typical range
Receivers: 1, or 2 with Dual Connection
USB: USB-C (charging and configuration)
Battery: Single-cell lithium, ~2.95 V to 4.20 V
Sleep current: ~1 µA
Inactivity timeout: 5 minutes (when not connected)
Throttle update rate: ~50 times per second
Vibration motor for haptic feedback
Connection security: BLE encrypted with passkey bonding (Secure Connections + MITM)

22. Easter Egg

There is a Snake game hidden in the remote firmware. Find it and you've unlocked a piece of GB history. Move the snake with the throttle. Choose your difficulty. Don't crash. Don't ride and play.

Need Help?

Receiver manual: GB Receiver manual
Config tool: gbengineering.se/config-tool
Source code (firmware): github.com/georgebenett/gb_remote
Community: see the support page on the website

This manual covers the GB Remote as of firmware version 2.9.3. Earlier firmware versions may behave slightly differently — update before troubleshooting.

Licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0).

GB Remote Lite