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Connected robot

Outline published The outline is settled, the content isn't written yet.

Your robot hosts its own control page. You drive it from your phone, and nothing leaves your network — and you can prove it.

Tell me what's missing
Salim Robot standing, hammer in hand
What you need before starting
« First robot » helps, but isn't required. You should be comfortable with a soldering iron.
Time
About 8 hours, at your pace

The outline

  1. From Arduino to ESP32

    What changes, what stays the same. Why an $8 board does what a computer did twenty years ago.

    45 min

  2. The robot becomes a server

    Hosting a real web page from the board. Three hundred lines, and your robot has an address.

    1 h 30

  3. Driving with your thumb

    The control interface, and why it fits in a single file. Same principles as this site: no dependencies, no framework.

    1 h 30

  4. What never leaves your place

    The local network, what it protects, and how to check for yourself that a connected device isn't talking to anyone else.

    1 h

  5. Following a line

    The second sensor, and the moment two inputs beat one. The robot stops groping around.

    1 h 30

  6. When the Wi-Fi drops

    The failures you don't see coming: reconnection, lost commands, the robot that keeps going alone. What to decide before it happens.

    1 h 45

The hardware

This kit has a course

Connected Kit — ESP32 and Wi-Fi

The same robot, but drivable from your phone. ESP32, Wi-Fi, and a web interface served by the robot itself.

How this course is made

The outline and the first drafts are built with AI tools. Every step is then actually assembled, tested on a real robot and corrected by hand before publication — that's the part that takes time, and it's the part that counts. We say so because it's the house trade: showing how we use it beats selling it in the abstract.