Dorian ToddOpen Source Hardware R&D
ProjectNo.YearTagsStatus
Fly Brain Bridge
A complete simulated fruit fly nervous system, 166,700 neurons and 25.6 million connections from the MaleCNS connectome, wired to a Sesame robot. Stimulate real, identified neurons and the fly's own command neurons decide what Sesame does: walk, turn, feed, groom, escape or dance.
PRJ-112026
SesameSimulationNeurosciencePythonMachine learningQuadruped
released
Live Robot Soccer!
During my efforts to teach small quadruped robots to play soccer, I embarked on a side project to develop a live media production system. By integrating mini pan-tilt camera robots with an overhead tracking array, I created Autoproducer—a virtual director capable of autonomously broadcasting matches in real-time.
PRJ-102026
PythonComputer visionESP32Autonomy
released
Autonomous Fridge Tank
What if your Mini Fridge could drive around on tank treads at 15+ MPH? What if it had a fully autonomous, multimodal, real-time navigation system and human positional tracking, behavior switching, costmaps, and full ROS2 support as well? This project answers that ridiculous question and also dives into the tricky integration and optimization of the ROS2 stack.
PRJ-092026
ROS 2JetsonESP32Computer visionAutonomyEvents
released
PenBot Mini
Most drawing robots lean on the same playbook: Cartesian rigs borrowed straight from 3D printers and CNC machines. PenBot never played by those rules. What started as a simple, kind of absurd goal (build a robot to sign a senior yearbook) eventually grew into a toaster-sized portrait artist, and then got shrunk all the way down to the size of a credit card.
PRJ-082026
ESP32LinkageServosPython3D printingOpen source
released
HEX-VISION
Realtime object segmentation and tracking with a control-focused UI. Built around screen capture, YOLOv8 segmentation, and telemetry visuals for robotics-style workflows. Built as an automation pipeline for the redHEX hexapod robot.
PRJ-072026
HexapodComputer visionPythonAutonomy
released
Sesame Robot Project
Sesame is an open-source, 3D-printable quadruped robot built around the ESP32. Eight servos, a 128x64 OLED face, a Wi-Fi control panel and JSON API, and about $50 to $60 in parts.
PRJ-062026
ESP32QuadrupedServos3D printingFusion 360Open source
released
red.HEX Hexapod
red.HEX is a medium-scale, 18-servo walking hexapod robot developed as a demonstration of design improvement and advanced technological implementation. The project is based on the open-source "Chica" hexapod design but features significant custom engineering, including a redesigned head unit, and much more.
PRJ-052025
HexapodServos3D printing
released
PenBot Linkage Plotter
PenBot is a over-engineered solution to compact pen plotting for vector drawing. It utilizes a uncommon same-axis dual motor linkage that requires extra math, and has minimal benefits. It is inspired by the Line-Us robot, and was originally created to sign yearbooks in my senior year of high school. During OS25 It drew over 50+ portraits of people using my python face-to-vector converter and a coordinate interpreter.
PRJ-042025
Raspberry PiComputer visionPythonLinkageEvents
released
Combat Robotics
The Executioner is a 15-pound combat robot designed and built by me and a team of peers under Placer Advanced Robotics. The robot was created for the 2024 BattleBots: Metal Mayhem competition at South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, TX. After competing in SBB 2024, it was then fully remastered and remade for SBB 2025, and NRL Nationals 2025.
PRJ-032024
Combat roboticsFusion 360Events
released
Matrix Game Board
The Matrix Game Board is an original engineering project I made for a design competition. The whole idea was designing and building an interactive Tic-Tac-Toe game that pushed the limits of the game. The project is using nine separate 8x8 LED matrix displays to serve as both the visual game board and the player input mechanism.
PRJ-022024
ESP32LED3D printingEvents
released
LED Digital Mosaic
A digital mosaic is a low fidelity screen, ex; 15x15 pixels which is made up of small shards to give the effect of a mosaic. A mosiac is simply colored peices of glass, tile, ect. which make up an image. With this, you can make each tile an individual color and display images or videos.
PRJ-012023
LEDRaspberry PiOpen source
released