Dash Robot

Vibe-coded Python controller for Wonder Workshop's Dash robot
_{Connect over Bluetooth LE. Drive, spin, light up, play sounds, read sensors. All from Python.}

A project by Brent Rager — founder of Smoo AI AI agents, dev tools, CRM, support & campaigns that integrate with everything you build. Let's talk.

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What Is This?

Dash is a $190 kids' coding robot by Wonder Workshop. It drives, spins, lights up, plays sounds, and has proximity/accelerometer/microphone sensors — all accessible over Bluetooth LE.

The official apps are drag-and-drop block coding. This repo skips all that and talks directly to Dash over BLE using Python and bleak. Write real async Python scripts to control your robot.

I got one for free and decided to vibe code it with Claude Code.

Quick Start

# Clone and install
git clone https://github.com/brentrager/dash.git
cd dash
uv sync

# Turn on your Dash robot, then:
uv run python examples/lightshow.py

Architecture

graph LR
    PY["🐍 Python Script<br/>async/await"]
    BLEAK["📡 Bleak<br/>BLE GATT client"]
    DASH["🤖 Dash Robot<br/>BLE peripheral"]

    PY -->|"commands"| BLEAK
    BLEAK -->|"GATT writes"| DASH
    DASH -->|"sensor notifications"| BLEAK
    BLEAK -->|"decoded state"| PY

    style PY fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#3776AB,color:#fff
    style BLEAK fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#0082FC,color:#fff
    style DASH fill:#1a1a2e,stroke:#F59E0B,color:#fff

Loading

BLE Protocol

Layer	UUID	Direction	Purpose
Service	AF237777-879D-...	—	Robot BLE service
Command	AF230002-879D-...	Write	Send commands (drive, lights, sound)
Dash Sensors	AF230006-879D-...	Notify	Proximity, wheels, head position
Dot Sensors	AF230003-879D-...	Notify	Accelerometer, buttons, mic, clap

Commands are a single byte ID followed by a payload. The protocol was reverse-engineered by the community using BLE sniffers.

API

import asyncio
from dash_robot import discover_and_connect

async def main():
    robot = await discover_and_connect()

    # Lights
    await robot.neck_color("red")
    await robot.ear_color("#00ff00")
    await robot.eye_brightness(255)
    await robot.all_lights("purple")

    # Movement
    await robot.drive(200)          # Forward
    await robot.move(500)           # Move 500mm and stop
    await robot.turn(90)            # Turn 90 degrees
    await robot.spin(150)           # Spin in place
    await robot.stop()

    # Head
    await robot.look(yaw=30, pitch=5)

    # Sound (40+ built-in sounds)
    await robot.say("hi")
    await robot.say("laser")
    await robot.say("elephant")

    # Sensors (updated in real-time via BLE notify)
    print(robot.proximity)          # {'left': 0, 'right': 0, 'rear': 0}
    print(robot.is_picked_up)       # False
    print(robot.heard_clap)         # False
    print(robot.buttons)            # {'main': False, '1': False, ...}

    await robot.disconnect()

asyncio.run(main())

Context manager works too:

async with await discover_and_connect() as robot:
    await robot.say("hi")
    await robot.move(300)

Interactive CLI

uv run python cli.py

dash> connect
Scanning for Dash...
Connected to XX:XX:XX:XX:XX:XX

dash> neck red
dash> say hi
dash> drive 200
dash> stop
dash> move 500
dash> turn 90
dash> sensors
  Proximity: L=0 R=0 Rear=0
  Picked up: False
  Clap: False

dash> sounds
beep, boat, bragging, buzz, bye, cat, charge, ...

dash> quit

Examples

Script	What It Does
lightshow.py	Rainbow color cycle on all LEDs
drive_square.py	Drive in a square pattern
react_to_clap.py	Random sound + color on clap detection
obstacle_avoid.py	Autonomous obstacle avoidance using proximity sensors

uv run python examples/lightshow.py
uv run python examples/drive_square.py
uv run python examples/react_to_clap.py
uv run python examples/obstacle_avoid.py

Available Sounds

40+ built-in sounds

Category	Sounds
Voices	hi, bragging, ohno, ayayay, confused, huh, okay, yawn, tada, wee, bye, charge
Animals	elephant, horse, cat, dog, dino, lion, goat, croc
Vehicles	siren, horn, engine, tires, helicopter, jet, boat, train
Effects	beep, laser, gobble, buzz, squeek

Sensor Reference

All sensor fields

Sensor	Field	Type	Source
Proximity	prox_left, prox_right, prox_rear	int	Dash stream
Wheels	left_wheel, right_wheel, wheel_distance	int	Dash stream
Head	head_yaw, head_pitch	int	Dash stream
Orientation	yaw, yaw_delta, pitch_delta, roll_delta	int	Dash stream
Accelerometer	pitch, roll, acceleration	int	Dot stream
Buttons	button_main, button_1, button_2, button_3	bool	Dot stream
State	moving, picked_up, hit, on_side	bool	Dot stream
Audio	clap, mic_level, sound_direction	mixed	Dot stream

Access via robot.state["field_name"] or convenience properties like robot.proximity.

Tech Stack

Python 3.13

Bleak (BLE)

Ruff

uv

Development

# Format + lint
uv run ruff format . && uv run ruff check .

# Type check
uv run ty check

Credits

BLE protocol knowledge from the community:

• bleak-dash by mewmix
• morseapi by Ilya Sukhanov
• WonderPy (official, Python 2 only)

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_{Built by Brent Rager at Smoo AI with Claude Code}