# Dorian Todd > https://www.doriantodd.com/ documents the robots and open source hardware projects of Dorian Todd: how each one works, what went wrong while building it, and the CAD, firmware and code to build your own. Videos: https://www.youtube.com/@DorianToddYT. Code: https://github.com/dorianborian. A good starting point is Sesame, an open source, 3D printed quadruped (four legged walking) robot built around the ESP32. It costs about $50 to $60 in parts, needs only basic soldering and the Arduino IDE, and is designed as a first robotics project for beginners, students and makers. Everything for it is on GitHub (https://github.com/dorianborian/sesame-robot) under the Apache 2.0 license, with a build video and guides. ## Start here - [Getting started with robotics](https://www.doriantodd.com/start-robotics): A practical guide to your first robotics project: what to build, what it costs, the tools you need, and why Sesame, an open source ESP32 walking robot, is a great place to start. - [Sesame robot project](https://www.doriantodd.com/sesame): Sesame is a free, open source, 3D printed walking robot: ESP32, eight servos, an animated OLED face and a Wi-Fi app, for about $50 to $60 in parts. A great first robotics project. - [Sesame robot kits](https://www.doriantodd.com/sesame/kit): Pre-flashed Sesame Distro Board kits, sold in production rounds through Full Contact Engineering. ## Projects - [Fly Brain Bridge](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/fly-brain-bridge): A complete simulated fruit fly nervous system (166,700 neurons, 25.6 million connections from the MaleCNS connectome) wired to a Sesame robot. The fly decides how the robot walks. (2026) - [Live Robot Soccer!](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/auto-producer): Tiny Sesame robots playing soccer, broadcast live by Autoproducer: pan-tilt camera robots and an overhead tracking array that direct the match on their own in real time. (2026) - [Autonomous Fridge Tank](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/fridge-tank): A mini fridge on tank treads that follows you or runs away on its own: ROS 2 Jazzy, a Jetson Orin Nano, YOLO person tracking, Nav2 and an ESP32 drive. SF Tech Week audience award winner. (2026) - [PenBot Mini](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/penbot-mini): PenBot Mini is a credit card sized five-bar linkage drawing robot on an ESP32 that copies what you draw. Open source, 3D printed, and small enough for a pocket. (2026) - [HEX-VISION](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/hex-vision): Real-time object segmentation and tracking with YOLOv8 and a control-focused UI, built as the automation pipeline that lets the red.HEX hexapod chase targets. (2026) - [Sesame Robot Project](https://www.doriantodd.com/sesame): Sesame is a free, open source, 3D printed walking robot: ESP32, eight servos, an animated OLED face and a Wi-Fi app, for about $50 to $60 in parts. A great first robotics project. (2026) - [red.HEX Hexapod](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/redhex): red.HEX is a medium-scale, 18-servo walking hexapod robot with a redesigned head unit and custom electronics, built on the open source Chica hexapod design. (2025) - [PenBot Linkage Plotter](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/penbot): PenBot is a pen plotting robot with a same-axis dual motor linkage. It drew 50+ portraits at Open Sauce 2025 using a Python face-to-vector converter. (2025) - [Combat Robotics](https://www.doriantodd.com/executioner): The Executioner is a 15 pound combat robot with a vertical beater bar, built for BattleBots Metal Mayhem at SXSW 2024 and remastered for NRL Nationals 2025. (2024) - [Matrix Game Board](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/matrix-game-board): An interactive tic-tac-toe board built from nine 8x8 LED matrix displays that are both the screen and the input, made for a design competition. (2024) - [LED Digital Mosaic](https://www.doriantodd.com/projects/digital-mosaic): A digital mosaic: a 15x15 LED display behind frosted acrylic shards that shows images and video like a living mosaic. Open source build. (2023) ## About and contact - [About Dorian Todd](https://www.doriantodd.com/about): Dorian Todd is an open source robotics developer and YouTuber who designs and builds robots, including Sesame, an open source 3D printed ESP32 quadruped robot, and documents the builds for his YouTube channel. - [Work with me: sponsorships and collaborations](https://www.doriantodd.com/work-with-me): Sponsorships, talks and collaborations with Dorian Todd, who builds open source robots and documents each build on YouTube and in detailed write-ups on this site. - [Contact](https://www.doriantodd.com/contact): Email contact@doriantodd.com. - [Full Contact Engineering](https://www.doriantodd.com/FCE): Full Contact Engineering is a hands-on showcase of interactive robots at Open Sauce and Maker Faire Bay Area, and the maker of Sesame robot kits. ## Build videos - [How I Made This Tiny Walking Robot From Scratch](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDsWkcQZhc) - [50,000 people came to my science fair](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Y21THNFZWg) - [I Taught my Spider Robot to Chase People... for Science!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2j9Mnt1yF1U) - [I Taught my Tiny Walking Robots How to Play Soccer!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EnNQ4rIJpO0) - [How to Build the Sesame Robot Project](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIgoQVQF_Ng) - [Can I Build This Tiny Robot From Scratch in the Middle of China?](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrQNBdtGT8g) ## Facts - Name: Dorian Todd (GitHub: dorianborian, YouTube: @DorianToddYT) - Focus: Robotics, Quadruped robots, Walking robots, Hexapod robots, Open source hardware, ESP32, Arduino, Servo motors, 3D printing, Fusion 360, PCB design, Embedded systems - Award: Audience Award, SF Tech Week Robot Contest by DaiDai Labs (2026), for the Autonomous Fridge Tank - Events and talks: Open Sauce 2024 and 2025, Maker Faire Bay Area 2024, BattleBots Metal Mayhem at SXSW 2024, NRL Nationals 2025, ISTE 2026 with Bambu Lab, SF Tech Week 2026, a talk at LSU - Sponsors and partners: Bambu Lab, ELEGOO, PCBWay, Manifold Tech, Petoi - License of Sesame: Apache 2.0 ## Optional - [Full text of every article](https://www.doriantodd.com/llms-full.txt) - [Sitemap](https://www.doriantodd.com/sitemap-index.xml)