A curious, playful 4WD robot powered by ESP32-S3. BLE control from your phone, computer vision for navigation, and direct LLM brain for personality.
What Makes Koda Special
Koda is an experiment in embodied AI — giving an LLM a physical body that can move, see, and interact with the real world.
Your phone runs the LLM (Gemini, Claude, etc.). Koda streams sensor data, gets decisions back. Personality without onboard compute.
BLE connection to your smartphone. Custom app for manual control, or let the LLM drive autonomously.
Onboard camera for obstacle detection, face recognition, and visual navigation. OpenCV + ESP32-CAM.
Koda isn't utilitarian — it's curious, sometimes stubborn, and loves to explore. The LLM gives it character.
18650 Li-ion pack with USB-C charging. 4-6 hours of active exploration, weeks on standby.
3D-printed chassis, off-the-shelf components, fully documented. Build your own or modify the design.
Technical Specifications
| Microcontroller | ESP32-S3 (Dual-core 240MHz, 512KB SRAM, 8MB PSRAM) |
| Motor Driver | L298N H-Bridge (2A per channel) |
| Chassis | 4WD Acrylic + 3D-printed components |
| Camera | OV2640 (2MP, 640x480 @ 30fps) |
| Connectivity | BLE 5.0, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n |
| Battery | 2x 18650 Li-ion (7.4V, 2000mAh) |
| Charging | USB-C TP4056 module |
| Dimensions | 180mm × 140mm × 80mm |
| Weight | ~450g (with battery) |
| Firmware | Arduino Core + Custom BLE Protocol |
Full build guide, 3D print files, and firmware available on GitHub.