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How do you make a robot you control from your phone?
You can drive the robot you design from your phone today, in the free test room: open it on your phone, turn the phone sideways and use the on-screen stick, with nothing to install and no cost. The real bot cannot be driven from a phone yet: its face, voice and moves run in the test room, and the program that runs them on the bot's own ESP32-S3 chip is not built, so phone control of the real bot is Coming next.
What works today
- The test room runs on phones: the bot is drawn in 3D with its real weight, wheels and joints, and the stick, buttons and sheets are made for a thumb. In landscape the view fills the screen.
- A gamepad works as well. A phone can be installed to the home screen from More (Install app) and run full screen.
- The test room has its own bot camera view, six worlds, things to push and nine holes of mini golf.
- Rolling bodies drive. The desk bodies stay on the table and turn and nod, so you move their neck with the sliders instead.
Drive one from your phone
- Open Pick your bot on your phone. Choose a rolling body: the Mini v2, the small-wheel bot or the Crawler.
- Wait for the checks. Every check passes before you can test it.
- Open the test room. Tap Test it. The bot appears in a 3D room with its real weight and wheels.
- Turn the phone sideways. The stick appears on the screen; Left-handed in More mirrors it.
- Drive it. Push the stick to drive and turn. A gamepad also works.
The real bot
A bot built by 3D3D has the ESP32-S3 camera board in its head, the same one that draws its face. Phone control of the real bot needs the program for that chip and a link between the phone and the bot. Neither is built: the face, voice and behaviour code is proved on a PC (it runs the same as the browser's), and the chip build is next. Coming next
Which bot to start with
| Bot | Size (mm) | Grams | Built by 3D3D (from) | Parts, to build yourself |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Mini v2 | 106 x 114 x 116 | 342.6 | $362.89 | $202.50 |
| The small-wheel bot | 80 x 72 x 107 | 175.9 | $295.73 | $141.39 |
| The Crawler bot | 104 x 100 x 107 | 216.2 | $300.16 | $141.39 |
| The first Mini | 80 x 72 x 96 | 172.7 | $285.38 | $141.39 |
Where to go next
All prices are in Canadian dollars before tax and shipping. Bought parts are priced from amazon.ca listings (seen 2026-11-04), plus 15% when 3D3D buys them. Printing, the build and test fee and finishing are 3D3D's own rates, listed on the prices page.