Build Your Own Quadruped Robot for Under $60

There are few things more interesting to an engineer than robots. Unfortunately, if you want anything that is more than just a toy, robots are very expensive and difficult to work with. This means that most of us aren’t going to be having much fun with robots in our homes. However, a new option recently popped up that could help to change that. Dorian Todd has created what he calls Sesame, a little walking robot friend that you can build at home with accessible hardware for under $60.

Sesame is a four-legged walking robot designed with approachability in mind. Rather than chasing extreme performance or advanced sensors, the project focuses on making robotics something a hobbyist can realistically assemble on a desk with a consumer-grade 3D printer. The body is made almost entirely of printed parts, and the mechanical links are intentionally shaped to sit flat during printing so they don’t require messy support material. Each component is even numbered, helping builders keep track of everything during the assembly process.

The quadruped layout uses eight servo motors—two per leg—to provide a full range of motion. That setup allows the robot to do more than just shuffle forward. Sesame can perform expressive behaviors, from walking and posing to playful animations. This is made possible by the servos, which contain internal position sensors that let the robot precisely control joint angles through PWM signals.

Inside the small chassis is a tightly packed electronics system. Builders can use a compact ESP32 S2 Mini microcontroller or a custom circuit board designed specifically for the project. While hand-wiring works, the custom PCB simplifies assembly and improves reliability by consolidating connections into a clean harness. Power comes from a 3-cell lithium-polymer battery mounted underneath the body.

Sesame’s personality comes from a tiny OLED display mounted on the front. The screen shows animated faces created by converting images into byte arrays and embedding them into the firmware. Combined with the robot’s body motions, the display turns simple mechanical movement into something surprisingly character-like.

Instead of requiring specialized software, the robot hosts its own Wi-Fi network. Users connect to it with a phone or laptop and operate it through a web page served directly by the ESP32. For creators who want to go further, Todd developed a companion animation tool called Sesame Studio. The Python-based program lets users design motion sequences by specifying joint angles and previewing them before uploading to the robot.

All CAD files and code are publicly available, so you can grab them and get started on your own copy of Sesame today.