Sesame Robot Micro

This repository contains the firmware and hardware files for a compact Sesame-style robot build.

Project intent

This repo is primarily for experimentation and active development.

It is not intended to be a polished, beginner-friendly open-source fun project in the same way as the original Sesame Robot project. Expect rough edges, frequent iteration, and implementation-first decisions.

Repository layout

• hardware/CAD/: 3D CAD source files (.f3z, .step)
• hardware/STL/: printable mesh exports
• main-board-firmware/: main robot control firmware (movement, faces, servo control)
• wifi-bridge-firmware/: ESP32-C6 captive-portal web controller and UART bridge

Firmware architecture

Main board firmware

main-board-firmware/mini-firmware.ino handles:

• servo movement sequences and poses
• OLED face rendering and animation
• command parsing over USB serial and SoftwareSerial

Main command categories include:

• directional motion: forward, backward, left, right, stop
• pose/animation commands: rest, stand, wave, dance, swim, point, pushup, bow, cute, freaky, worm, shake, shrug, dead, crab
• tuning commands: frameDelay, walkCycles, motorDelay, subtrim, per-servo angle commands

Wi-Fi bridge firmware

wifi-bridge-firmware/wifi-bridge.ino runs on a Seeed XIAO ESP32-C6 and provides:

• a Wi-Fi access point (Sesame)
• captive-portal web UI
• HTTP endpoints for motion and settings
• UART forwarding of commands to the main board
• optional BLE gamepad support via Bluepad32 (when available)

Wiring (bridge to main board)

• common ground between ESP32-C6 and main board
• ESP32-C6 TX (D3 / GPIO21 in this sketch) -> main board RX (pin 12 in this sketch)

Current bridge behavior is one-way command transmission (main board replies are not required).

Build and flash notes

Main board firmware

Open main-board-firmware/mini-firmware.ino in Arduino IDE and install required libraries:

• Servo
• SoftwareSerial
• Adafruit GFX Library
• Adafruit SSD1306

Then compile/upload for your target main-board MCU.

Wi-Fi bridge firmware

Open wifi-bridge-firmware/wifi-bridge.ino in Arduino IDE and use:

• board package: Espressif esp32 (3.x)
• board: Seeed XIAO ESP32-C6

Optional:

• Bluepad32 for BLE gamepad support

Development status

This codebase is optimized for fast iteration on behavior, control feel, and hardware integration.

If you are looking for a fully documented, beginner-oriented, feature-frozen project, this repository is probably not that. If you want a practical base for hacking and experimenting, it is exactly that.

Check out the Sesame Robot Project for a well maintained and documented larger version of this project.

License

Apache-2.0. See LICENSE.