OpenCatESP32 — OpenCat Framework on ESP32/BiBoard

🚀 Quaddle — Petoi's newest OpenCat-lineage quadruped — goes live on Kickstarter Sept 2, 2026. Get notified → (details below)

OpenCatESP32 runs the OpenCat quadruped robotics framework on BiBoard — an ESP32-based development board designed for multi-degree-of-freedom legged robots with up to 12 servos. Developed by Petoi, the maker of futuristic programmable robotic pets.

This is the codebase for current-generation Petoi hardware. If you're on the older NyBoard (ATmega328P), see the main OpenCat repo.

Click either GIF to watch the demo.

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Quaddle mini robot dog — launching on Kickstarter Sept 2, 2026

Quaddle is Petoi's newest quadruped, going live on Kickstarter Sept 2, 2026 — a mini desk robot built on the same OpenCat lineage as Bittle and Nybble.

• Full quadruped running on just 4 servos instead of the usual 8–12, which forces genuinely different gait-design and leg-coordination solutions to still get all four legs walking, running, and balancing
• Position-feedback servos — readable, not just drivable — which is what makes Puppet Mode possible: hand-guide the legs and record a motion directly, no code required
• 3D-printable shells and mounts for customization
• Same open platform this repo already supports for gait research, reinforcement learning (RL), and sim2real work — a hands-on physical AI platform, not a toy version of the idea
• Try it in the online simulator before it ships

Source code is not yet public. It's an upgraded version of the OpenCat project, and its ESP32-S3 code structure is closer to this repo than to the main NyBoard-based OpenCat repo. We plan to open source it before Quaddle delivery.

• Watch this repo and r/petoi for the open-source announcement
• Get notified on Kickstarter when it goes live
• Check out the Quaddle Hugging Face page

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About the Project

Inspired by Boston Dynamics' Spot, Dr. Rongzhong Li started OpenCat in his dorm at Wake Forest University in 2016. The goal was straightforward: make agile quadruped robots affordable and hackable enough for researchers, educators, and makers — not just well-funded labs.

Since then:

• 30,000+ robots shipped, cumulative across all channels
• 60+ countries
• $1M+ raised across two prior Kickstarter and Indiegogo campaigns
• 20+ academic papers cite the platform — see Research Spotlight
• One of the most-starred open-source quadruped robot projects on GitHub

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Hardware

BiBoard is the control board for:

• 🐶 Bittle X — mini robot dog & AI robotics kit with voice control
  • Also available on Amazon
  • Try the simulator
• 🐱 Nybble Q — mini robot cat & AI robotics kit

The older Bittle and Nybble (NyBoard) are discontinued. BiBoard is the current platform.

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Why BiBoard Over NyBoard?

The ATmega328P (NyBoard) gets the job done for locomotion. BiBoard is for when your robotics programming needs more headroom:

• ESP32 dual-core @ 240 MHz — handle real-time servo coordination and a perception pipeline simultaneously
• Wi-Fi + Bluetooth built in — wireless control and data streaming without a dongle
• Up to 12 servos — full 12-DOF configurations
• Arduino IDE compatible — same workflow, more horsepower
• Open source — hardware and software both forkable

If you're building an open source robot dog for research, running ROS, deploying a vision model, or just want room to experiment — BiBoard is the right foundation.

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Board Configuration

Arduino IDE settings (ESP32 Dev Module):

Full setup: Upload Sketch for BiBoard

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What People Have Built

• AI and computer vision applications
• Raspberry Pi robotics projects
• NVIDIA Isaac simulations and reinforcement learning
• SLAM with ROS using Bittle and Raspberry Pi
• Research Spotlight — academic and research use

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Education

OpenCat shows up in AI robotics education across K-12 programs, community colleges, university labs, and maker spaces — hands-on physical AI teaching that goes beyond screen-based coding exercises:

• Robotics education showcases
• STEM & robotics curriculum resources
• Robotics competitions

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Community & Discussion

• r/OpenCat — firmware code, framework hacking, extending and porting OpenCat
• r/Petoi — hardware Q&A, builds, quadruped coding, RL experiments, curriculum, 3D-printed parts, general discussion
• Facebook Group — community discussion and builds

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Resources

• Petoi Guides
• AI reinforcement learning with Petoi
• FinoBot — AI robot dog with Raspberry Pi and ROS2
• Robotics research with Bittle adapting to different surfaces at Haverford College
• Advanced tutorials by the community
• All kits and accessories
• FAQ

Follow the project:

• YouTube
• Twitter
• Instagram
• Facebook
• LinkedIn
• TikTok