This 3D-printable ESP32 robot acts as a physical body for your AI agent, thinking and typing alongside it

Credit: jamropl Published Aug 27, 2026, 5:26 PM EDT Simon is a Computer Science BSc graduate who has been writing about technology since 2014, and using Windows machines since 3.1. After working for an indie game studio and acting as the family's go-to technician for all computer issues, he found his passion for writing and decided to use his skill set to write about all things tech. Since beginning his writing career, he has written for many different publications such as WorldStart, Listverse, and MakeTechEasier. However, after finding his home at MakeUseOf in February 2019, he would eventually move on to its sister site, XDA, to bring the latest and greatest in Windows, Linux, and DIY electronics. Sign in to your XDA account Summary The Tiny Engineer is an open-source ESP32 desk robot that mimics your AI agent's actions in real life. It acts out your AI agent's states - it ponders, codes on a tiny keyboard, then rings a bell when it's done. The full open-source repo on GitHub contains the instructions, STLs, and the code to build it. AI agents are really handy, but they lack a certain human touch to them. Good AI agent apps inform you of what your agent is doing at any given time, but it's not as evocative as seeing someone actually working. Well, now you can fix that problem, as someone has released an open-source ESP32 desk robot that reads what your AI agent is doing and mimes out their actions in real life. This ESP32 robot is the perfect desk companion for your AI agent It even has its own mug and desk lamp Over on the ESP32 subreddit, user jamropl revealed their newest open-source project. It's called the Tiny Engineer, and the idea is that it hooks up to your PC and keeps an eye on your AI agent. Whenever your agent performs a specific task, the Tiny Engineer will perform the relevant action in real life. When your AI is thinking, the Tiny Engineer strikes a pondering pose; once it starts coding, your little 3D-printed companion begins hammering away on its own keyboard. What I love the most about this little project is how much personality it has. The face has a little OLED that represents its eyes, and it has a speaker so it can say things. And once it finishes its task, it even has a little desk bell that it rings when it's finished. Adorable. The project wasn't without its challenges, though. As jamropl says: "The biggest ESP32 challenge was size. I chose the ESP32-C3-Zero because I needed Wi-Fi and enough capability to run the robot, but the controller also had to physically fit inside this tiny body. Driving 5 servos reliably was another constraint, so rather than driving them directly from the ESP32 I added a PCA9685 dedicated servo controller. Finding servos small enough to fit the mechanics while still having enough torque was surprisingly tricky too." If you want to make your own (and why wouldn't you?), you can check out the full code, 3D printing files, and instructions on the Tiny Engineer GitHub page.