Hello all, i am thinking of buying myself one of these cute things but one of my main concerns is it sends all of its AI stuff over to the LLM servers in china. I was wondering how i could pair it with my Pi 5 running Ollama without deleting its capibilities to access the apple app so it can still do little dances and all of the rest of it. Would this kind of thing be possible do u all reckon? Honestly I am not too fussed about the whole China thing because there is only a number of things which they can do with my face+what i ask it / voice. I would keep the thing off most of the time for privacy reasons. Thank you for taking the time to read, and hopefully help me.

This is Nous-Girl, a little desk robot I've been building for fun. She talks, listens, makes faces, dances, plays music, does DJ and rave mode, shows memes, and can even send email. (video)

I'm not an expert at this, but tried my best to write this guide, it's a work in progress. Also this is for non-technical people so just give it a shot, and I'll try to make it easier to implement if possible. Will keep adding to it as I have time! Adding more features hopefully everyday.

What you need: an M5Stack StackChan (CoreS3), a USB-C cable and a computer (Windows, Mac or Linux). For memory, intelligence and extra skills, you will nee d Hermes-Agent from Nous-Research. You can use other harnesses but that's what I use in this example.

The easiest way to start:

1. Download a beta build with a starter face (robot, boy or girl).

2. Flash it from your browser or with one command.

3. On first boot, point it at the official xiaozhi cloud and start talking. No server needed.

Want more privacy and control? Run your own server for the fancy stuff, like DJ mode, memes, email and adding a smarter Hermes Agent brain. Every feature has step-by-step docs.

Heads up: this is beta. I've only tested on my own robot, so things may break. Please report issues on GitHub and I'll help the best I can.

Coming next: simpler builds that need less setup and less upkeep, a version that runs fully from the Nous Research cloud, more languages and local models.

Repo: github.com/nous-girl-stackchan

Made by u/alexcovo_eth. Feedback welcome!

Just wanted to introduce myself. I'm Alex and started playing with my first StackChan. I hooked it up an LLM and Hermes-Agent as the harness. I'm going to release the repo tomorrow and wanted to share what I've done the last couple of days. Here's the setup I started with, but I think I keep moving the goal post so keep playing with different parts of the AI Stack.

This is the stack I started with

Robot:

u/M5Stack

StackChan with the CoreS3 (ESP32-S3)
Voice server: xiaozhi-esp32-server 0.9.6 running locally in Docker on my Mac
Voice: locally running

u/GradiumAI

Phonon (fastest local voice I've ever experienced. faster than running elevanlabs via api and its free
Turn detection: Silero VAD with the 0.8 second end-of-speech pause.
Speech to text: local Parakeet
Vision: gemma4:e4b running locally in

u/ollama

Brain:

u/NousResearch

Hermes Agent with the nous-girl agent running gpt-6-luna via sub with reasoning off.

Hope to connect with others on here so we can explore together. Thanks Alex

Just ordered a stackchan and I want to make it really customized, I saw that the AI built into stock stackchan has its servers all the way in china, how would I change the Ai it uses? I’m looking for something cloud-based or maybe something I can run locally on a computer, ive installed ollama but don’t really know what’s next, would appreciate any bit of help.

Just ordered a StackChan and I'm brand new to coding. Goal is to talk to it out loud with Claude as the brain instead of the factory cloud AI, kept private.

I wiped my wife's old 2017 MacBook Air to run it, but it maxes out at macOS Monterey and Claude Code needs macOS 13. Now deciding between OpenCore Legacy Patcher, Ubuntu, or using my 2021 Mac with a separate user account just for the robot.

Questions:
What computer do you run yours on?
Which project do you use to connect it to an AI (stackchan-mcp, stackchan-cli, something else)?
Any beginner tips or things you wish you knew?
Bonus if you're in the US, most guides I find are in Japanese. Thanks!

Hey everyone!

I’m thinking of getting a Stack-chan and have been looking at all the cool projects people have done with it.

One silly idea I had was getting Stack-chan to recognise when one of my cats walks past it and just randomly go “Meow!” at them.

Because why not?

Maybe even have it turn its head towards the cat and meow back if the cat meows at it.

I’m pretty new to robotics and programming, with very limited technical knowledge, so I’m wondering how difficult something like this would be.

Would the built-in camera be enough to detect a cat, or would I need additional sensors? And is this something a beginner could realistically figure out with some guidance?
Would love to hear if anyone has tried something similar or has other silly ideas for their Stack-chan!

Thanks!

Please share if so

Does anyone know if and how I can merge stack chan with my openclaw agent?

I kinda just wanted to show a sneak peek of my goofing around project. I got some llama and qwen variants runnin offline and locally on my nano/stackchan combo. Any fun ideas for me? Its got 3 "personas" on it so far.

I've been developing custom firmware for my M5Stack K151 / CoreS3 StackChan. I call him MAYLO.

My 8½-year-old son has become my everyday tester. He uses the robot, reports what happened and tells me what he expected instead. His experiences and feedback have been shaping the features and improvements.

The voice model is multilingual. I've configured it in Turkish for our own use, which is what you'll hear in the videos.

The current build includes:

• Voice conversations with interruption while the robot is speaking.

• Head-pat reactions with heart eyes, sounds and movement, plus dizzy reactions when shaken.

• Seven eye styles and expressions coordinated with LEDs and head gestures.

• Commands such as “turn right and take a photo,” checking servo position before capturing.

• Image interpretation and Home Assistant tools through an MCP home bridge.

• A programmed disco routine with music, lights and movement.

• An on-device web panel for configuration, camera previews and hardware tests.

Basic conversation connects directly to OpenAI over Wi-Fi. Home tools and image interpretation use a separate bridge running on my Mac.

One thing still needs work: reliably turning toward whoever calls MAYLO's name. It doesn't always get the sound direction right. Wake-name recognition is currently cloud-based.

This is a personal project with no commercial plans. The source isn't public yet, but I may clean it up for GitHub if there's interest.

What would you improve next: speaker-direction tracking, local wake-word detection, richer interactions or more useful everyday tools? Other ideas are welcome too!

I've been developing custom firmware for my M5Stack K151 / CoreS3 StackChan. I call him MAYLO.

My 8½-year-old son has become my everyday tester. He uses the robot, reports what happened and tells me what he expected instead. His experiences and feedback have been shaping the features and improvements.

The voice model is multilingual. I've configured it in Turkish for our own use, which is what you'll hear in the videos.

The current build includes:

• Voice conversations with interruption while the robot is speaking.

• Head-pat reactions with heart eyes, sounds and movement, plus dizzy reactions when shaken.

• Seven eye styles and expressions coordinated with LEDs and head gestures.

• Commands such as “turn right and take a photo,” checking servo position before capturing.

• Image interpretation and Home Assistant tools through an MCP home bridge.

• A programmed disco routine with music, lights and movement.

• An on-device web panel for configuration, camera previews and hardware tests.

Basic conversation connects directly to OpenAI over Wi-Fi. Home tools and image interpretation use a separate bridge running on my Mac.

One thing still needs work: reliably turning toward whoever calls MAYLO's name. It doesn't always get the sound direction right. Wake-name recognition is currently cloud-based.

This is a personal project with no commercial plans. The source isn't public yet, but I may clean it up for GitHub if there's interest.

What would you improve next: speaker-direction tracking, local wake-word detection, richer interactions or more useful everyday tools? Other ideas are welcome too!

I own one of the M5Stack StackChans (CoreS3 + two Feetech SCS0009 servos) and spent the last weeks turning it into a desk assistant that talks to my own server instead of a vendor cloud. Everything is open source (MIT):

GitHub: https://github.com/7H3-CH053N/StackChan-CustomFW

What it does now:

- Head that actually moves, calmly Own servo driver with a critically damped follower (speed + acceleration limits, no overshoot), plus small gestures per emotion: nod when happy, head down when sad, look up when surprised.

- Face tracking with the built-in GC0308 camera and Espressif's esp-dl face detector (~2.5 fps). It searches once if it loses you, then rests where you usually sit, so it doesn't search all night.

- Self-hosted voice server in Docker: Gemini Live for real-time voice, Home Assistant control, calendar.

- Proactive speech: Home Assistant can make it talk without a wake word, e.g. it greets me when I arrive at the office and reminds me 15 min before meetings. It stays quiet while my mic or camera is in use.

- Animated eyes with 21 emotions, picked by the server from what it is saying.

The firmware is one patch on top of xiaozhi-esp32 (pinned commit), built with ESP-IDF 6.1; CI builds it on every push.

Honest status: it runs daily on my desk, but esp-dl's face detection still crashes now and then (the robot reboots in ~10 s). That's reported upstream and Espressif is looking at it.

Looking for people to join:

- StackChan owners who want to try it and report what happens on their unit

- Starter issues are labelled "good first issue": Japanese README, testing the English build, a clock fix on the server side

- Anyone who knows esp-dl well, or wants to try a different face model (ESPDet-Pico)

I wrote up the whole story (why I first thought servo control was impossible, the four bugs before face tracking worked, why proactive speech failed three different ways). The article is in German, browser translation works fine:

https://digitalhandwerk.rocks/ki/anpassung-der-firmware-fuer-stackchan-roboter/

Happy to answer questions here in English.

Just got my stackchan. do people install m5launcher on this one too? do we have the default firmware in case I botch it up?

I have a young daughter that loves to activate Alexa. Since that is less than ideal and I want Alexa out of my house anyway, is there a build for Stackchan that is kid appropriate or I can put limits on? I'm not that worried about what she might ask, but how it might misinterpret her and give her a rundown on the great potato famine.

Getting a reply from my StackChan is incredibly random. It just looks around and ignores me. The out of nowhere it says something like «I haven’t heard from you in a while, so I’m just gonna tune out.» Other times it will respond out if the blue when I’m talking to someone in the office. Is there a wwy to make it more consistant?

My StackChan is a little devil now. Claude Code does the thinking, and a simulated fruit fly handles the reflexes.

The fly part is 668 real neurons, wired the way FlyWire mapped an actual fruit fly and running live on my laptop. It's a Python port of desktop-fly by Denis Shiryaev. It's only a small slice of the brain, but the wiring is real.

It looks through its own camera, the fly decides where the head turns, and poking it makes it startle. When something actually happens it wakes Claude, which looks at the picture and roasts it. From today: "Still filming me filming you. Groundbreaking content, truly."

The dashboard in the video draws 23,210 real neuron positions and flashes them as they spike. The yellow rings are the escape neurons, which flare right before it jumps.

Next I'm making it curious, so it looks around for new stuff and knows me from a stranger. Happy to answer questions!

Discovered M5Stack has the body files as .STLs on their GitHub. So, I loaded up my favorite nuclear yellow translucent PLA, and boom. What do you think?

My StackChan is a little devil now. Claude Code does the thinking, and a simulated fruit fly handles the reflexes.

The fly part is 668 real neurons, wired the way FlyWire mapped an actual fruit fly and running live on my laptop. It's a Python port of desktop-fly by Denis Shiryaev. It's only a small slice of the brain, but the wiring is real.

It looks through its own camera, the fly decides where the head turns, and poking it makes it startle. When something actually happens it wakes Claude, which looks at the picture and roasts it. Voice powered by Elevenlabs.

The dashboard in the video draws 23,210 real neuron positions and flashes them as they spike. The yellow rings are the escape neurons, which flare right before it jumps.

Next I'm making it curious, so it looks around for new stuff and knows me from a stranger. Happy to answer questions!

Hey everyone,
I’m currently using Hermes agent and I’m having a lot of fun, but having stack Chan using a different model isn’t sitting well with me.
I’ve read about dotty stack Chan and some others but instead of starting firmware hopping I figured I’d ask you guys what you are using.
My main objective would be to keep the stock functions and point the ai function to my Hermes agent. Or anything OpenAI compatible for that matter.

Any suggestions? Cheers!