It's fun to watch the Steam Controller scoot itself over towards its charging puck.
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I made my Steam Controller automatically charge itself@Dexerto @HardwareSteam @valvesoftware pic.twitter.com/RzCApdq4l4 June 25, 2026
This is an interesting use case for the Steam Controller’s haptic motors, which are primarily designed to give feedback to gamers. Although this app, which you can run in the background on your browser, is designed to make recharging your controller more comfortable, you do need a flat surface without any obstructions to ensure that the Steam Controller can reach the charging puck. Aside from that, the vibration and movement on the desk tends to cause abrasion on the controller’s surface, meaning you’ll soon find flat spots appearing on the surface that contact your desk. Ray Foss, the maker of the GitHub repo, said that adding rubber feet should help prevent this and might also give the controller better acceleration and handling.
Another programmer has created something similar before — a web app that uses the controller’s rumble motor to let it slip and slide on your desk . But what makes this project different is that instead of manually “driving” your Steam Controller, it uses computer vision to automatically guide the controller back towards the charging puck, making it look like a robot vacuum.
These apps have limited usability — after all, the Steam Controller would still be unable to hop from the coffee desk in your living room to the TV console where your charging puck and Steam Machine are likely sitting. Nevertheless, it shows Valve ’s commitment to making it easy for gamers to use their devices the way they want to. The company even released the CAD files for the Steam Controller and Puck back in May 2026, just a few days after the controller became widely available. But if you want to give this curiosity a try, you can easily do so by going to the Auto-Charge Vision Tracker website. The program’s files are also readily available on GitHub if you want to play around with the program and make your own version.
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- https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/controllers-gamepads/SPONSORED_LINK_URL
- https://www.tomshardware.com/peripherals/controllers-gamepads/modded-steam-controller-can-automatically-charge-itself-like-a-robot-vacuum-enthusiast-creates-github-program-that-uses-the-vibration-motor-to-walk-it-back-to-its-docking-station#main
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