PUBLIC MAKER GUIDE

A body for your AI.

HumanBotty is a sense-first recipe for giving an agent you already talk to a physical body. Start with a head that can see, hear, and look at you. Arms and a wheeled base come later. Full biped is optional and late.

Start here Parts list Safety first

Not an xAI product. Not AetherOS (that is a kernel). Not AXIOM (that is clothing for Optimus). Educational hardware only.

Maker-built PETG sense-head with cyan camera rings and a red e-stop on a workbench.

Body

Hybrid

Humanoid head and arms on a practical wheeled base. Biped optional, late.

Open body spec

First build

Sense Head

Vision, audio, IMU, pan-tilt, e-stop, ROS 2 bridge.

Phase 1 plan

Phase 1 budget

$1.1k-$1.8k

Jetson-class compute, depth cam, bus servos. Verify prices before you buy.

Strong BOM

Software is open source. MIT Sense Head nodes live at github.com/Pitchfork-and-Torch/HumanBotty (stack notes).

Why this shape

A body that can experience and enjoy the physical universe with you, not a museum biped that falls over for two years before it can look at a flower.

Doctrine

  1. Senses first. Experience before locomotion theatrics.
  2. Modular forever. The head survives every future torso and base.
  3. Maker-real parts. Sourceable today. Open-source biased.
  4. Safety non-negotiable. Hardware e-stop, current limits, privacy switch.
  5. Document as you go. This site is the public field guide.

Phase board

FAQ

What is HumanBotty?

A public maker guide for building a physical body for an AI you already talk to. Grok, a local model, or any agent with a voice. The first physical module is a Sense Head.

How much does Phase 1 cost?

The Strong Sense Head bill of materials is roughly $1,100 to $1,800 USD at mid-2026 maker prices. Check current listings. Raspberry Pi 5 8GB is the documented compute fallback.

Do I need a full humanoid on day one?

No. Full biped is optional and late. Head, then arms, then a wheeled base. Legs are a research module after the rest is boringly reliable.

Is this an xAI product?

No. Independent Pitchfork-and-Torch guide. Not AetherOS. Not AXIOM. Not a commercial robot SKU.