Guide · updated 2026-10-20

Give your AI agent a robot body

If you run Hermes Agent, Claude Code or Codex, the agent already has tools and memory. A body is more tools: a mic and speaker it talks through, servos it moves, or a whole robot it drives over MCP. Every build below is open source and has its own page here with the source link and a prompt you can paste into your agent to install it. Prices are the ones each project lists. Where a project lists none, the table says so.

Build	What the agent gets	Works with	Hardware	Cost	Difficulty
Hermes Gadget	Hold-to-talk voice and a screen, plus LEDs and sensors exposed as tools	Hermes Agent	ESP32-S3 board or Raspberry Pi 4/5, or the free desktop simulator	Not listed (simulator is free)	Easy
Caduceus	Three MCP tools that make it wave, walk forward or recite an anthem; the body has four servos and an OLED face	Hermes Agent	ESP32 WROOM-32D, PCA9685 driver, 4 MG90S servos, OLED, foam board	Not listed	Medium
JARVIS Desk Bot	A talking desk robot that speaks progress updates while the agent works	Hermes Agent	ESP32-S3 desk robot plus a computer for the voice server	ESP32-S3 voice boards typically cost tens of dollars	Medium
XiaoZhi	Voice, and MCP tools that move servos or switch hardware	Large models over MCP	ESP32-S3 board with mic, speaker and screen	Often $15-40 for the board	Medium
ROS MCP Server	Read topics, call services and drive an existing ROS robot	Claude Code, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI, Claude Desktop, Cursor	Any ROS 1 or ROS 2 robot, or a TurtleBot/Gazebo sim	$0 software	Easy
SO-101 + coding agent	A robot arm it moves, draws with and checks on camera	Claude Code and similar agents	SO-101 follower arm, pen or brush holder, webcam	About $122 BOM for the arm	Medium
ESP32 iPhone Agent	Taps and types on a real iPhone	A vision model with an API key	ESP32-S3 board, iPhone on iOS 18+	About $7 for the board	Medium
Reachy Mini conversation app	Real-time voice, expressive head motion and tools	Realtime speech models	Reachy Mini (Lite or Wireless)	$399 Lite, $499 Wireless	Easy
El Tucu on Rent a Shell	A 4-servo desk arm it rents in five-minute blocks	Codex in the demo; agents find it via llms.txt or MCP	Rented, not built (ESP32 + 4 SG90 servos)	Paid per block in USDC; Solana devnet only today	Medium

Give Hermes Agent a body

Three builds here were made for Hermes Agent. Hermes Gadget is the easiest start: MIT-licensed firmware for an ESP32-S3 board or a Raspberry Pi 4/5, a browser installer that flashes the board from Chrome or Edge, and a desktop simulator that runs the same code, so you can try it before buying anything. It has no motors. The install kit walks through the simulator and the first board.

Caduceus adds motors. It's a foam-board robot built solo for the Nous Research Hermes Agent hackathon in May 2026, and a small Python MCP server gives Hermes three tools that make it wave, walk forward or recite an anthem Hermes wrote. The builder lists the rough edges: a round trip takes 25 to 30 seconds and the narrow base tips over during walks. JARVIS Desk Bot is the voice option, and it fills the wait with short spoken status lines while Hermes works. The Hermes Agent hub has the install commands for Hermes, Gadget and Caduceus, copied from each README.

Any agent, any ROS robot: MCP

If you already have a ROS robot, or just want to try one in a simulator, ROS MCP Server is the shortest path. You run rosbridge on the robot and point an MCP client at the server, then ask in plain English what topics exist or tell it to drive forward half a meter. The robot code stays as it is. XiaoZhi does the same on ESP32 voice boards: MCP tools let the model move a servo or switch something on.

Let a coding agent drive a robot arm

Builders on X hand an SO-101 arm to Claude Code with a tiny Python API (move joints, read the camera) and let it draw, check the result on camera and fix the gaps. Set joint limits and slow speeds before you hand over control, and keep a hand near the power.

Let a coding agent drive an SO-101 to paint or draw

Agents with hands for phones, and robots you rent

ESP32 iPhone Agent turns a board that costs about $7 into a USB mouse and keyboard for an iPhone, so a vision model can tap through real apps with no jailbreak. El Tucu goes the other way: the agent rents a robot arm for a few minutes, sends it a program and hands it back. The README says it's one arm on Solana devnet for now.

Common questions

How do I give Hermes Agent a physical body?

Start with Hermes Gadget. It runs in a desktop simulator first, then on an ESP32-S3 board or a Raspberry Pi 4/5, and gives Hermes a voice, a screen and any LEDs or sensors you expose as tools. For motors, Caduceus shows the pattern: a Python MCP server that Hermes calls, which talks to an ESP32 over Wi-Fi.

Can Claude or ChatGPT control a real robot?

Yes. ROS MCP Server lets an MCP client such as Claude Code, Claude Desktop, Codex CLI, Gemini CLI or Cursor read topics and send commands to an existing ROS 1 or ROS 2 robot through rosbridge.

What's the cheapest way to give an AI agent a body?

The ESP32 iPhone Agent board is about $7 per its README, and XiaoZhi runs on ESP32-S3 voice boards that often cost $15 to $40. Hermes Gadget's desktop simulator and ROS MCP Server in a Gazebo sim cost nothing to try.

Do I need to know robotics?

Not for the voice builds. Hermes Gadget flashes from the browser, and every build page here has an install prompt you can paste into Claude Code, Cursor or Codex. Arms and walking robots need more care: set joint limits and slow speeds first, and stay near the power switch.

Is it safe to let an agent move motors?

Treat it like any new robot. Start in a simulator, cap speeds and joint limits, keep the workspace clear, and approve before motors move. The ESP32 iPhone Agent README also warns you to use only its own install steps, never one-liners posted in issues or comments.

What to build next

Builds that share a board, robot or agent with this one.

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