This Autonomous Facehugger, Powered by an Espressif ESP32, Could Give an Alien Nightmares

Pseudonymous maker "MiReplica3D" is looking to reach out and hug someone — with a 3D-printable remote-control or autonomous animatronic of the infamous Facehugger from the Alien sci-fi franchise, powered by an Espressif ESP32 microcontroller.

"After many iterations and tests, I managed to create this Facehugger animatronic," MiReplica3D writes of the project, which is creepily convincing as it scuttles around the floor. "It runs on an [Espressif] ESP32 with Arduino code and an app made in MIT App Inventor. It was designed in Blender and 3D-printed in PETG and TPU."

The Facehugger is, of course, part of the lifecycle of the Xenomorph from the Alien franchise: hatched from a leathery egg, it greets a potential host with a hug to the face — hence the name — and implants an embryo that turns into a Chestburster before doing exactly what that name implies then matures into the adult Xenomorph.

While MiReplica3D's animatronic version thankfully lacks the reproductive ability and acid blood of its fictional counterpart, it scuttles around in convincing fashion — either reacting to movement detected via a forward-facing ultrasonic sensor or via a Bluetooth-connected remote-control app on a smart device.

"It moves when something is detected between 10 and 300cm [around 4" to 118"]," MiReplica3D explains of the autonomous mode. "I'm working on [a] jump function. At least a small jump. A small jump for the Facehugger, a big jump for the Xenomorphs."

More information on the project is available on MiReplica3D's Reddit post, while the 3D print files and source code are available to download on Cults3D for $16.97.