Otto DIY is a 3D printable open source robot

💽 HP Robots x Prusa Printables Otto Remix Challenge | 3D Robot Design Contest

Mon, 09 Mar 2026 05:32:10 -0700

The HP Robots Otto Remix Challenge invites makers and designers to create 3D printable upgrades, characters, and expansions for the Otto robot platform.

The maker community thrives on remixing ideas. A design starts somewhere, but its real magic appears when others modify it, improve it, and turn it into something unexpected. That spirit of creativity is exactly what inspired the HP Robots Otto Remix Challenge, now live on Printables.

👉 Join the contest now here

Meet Otto: A Robot Built for Creativity

Otto started as an open-source robot project created to help people learn robotics by building, coding, and experimenting. Over the years it has grown into a modular robotics platform used by makers, students, and educators around the world.

The HP Robots version expands that vision with a flexible ecosystem of modules, accessories, and upgrades. Its design encourages experimentation, making it ideal for 3D printing communities where customization and remix culture are part of everyday creativity.

At its core, Otto is:

🤖 Modular and expandable
🧠 Designed for learning robotics and coding
🖨 Built around customizable 3D printable parts
🎓 Used by educators and makers alike

This combination of robotics, education, and maker culture makes Otto a perfect platform for a remix design challenge.

The Printables Contest

Participants are invited to design a 3D printable remix for Otto that changes how the robot looks, works, or what it can do.

The goal is to create original designs that expand Otto’s possibilities while keeping its recognizable...Read More

⚡ Otto Pikachu: From AI Concept to Real Robot

Wed, 24 Sep 2025 08:10:59 -0700

What happens when you mix pop culture, creative tech, and a dash of childlike wonder? You get Otto Pikachu—a fully functional robot born from an AI-generated sketch and brought to life with 3D printing, modular electronics, and visual coding.

This project started as a playful experiment. Could we use our HP Otto robotics kit to build a character that kids already love? Could we turn an AI concept into a real, moving robot? The answer: yes. And it blinks when you get close.

This is still an exercise, but it’s a powerful proof of concept: a glimpse into how robotics and design are being democratized. With intuitive design platforms and accessible hardware, creativity is no longer limited to professionals—it’s open to everyone, especially young creators.

🧠 From Idea to AI Sketch

We kicked things off by asking ChatGPT to imagine a Pikachu-inspired robot. The result was a quirky:

I had to refine it to fit Otto cubical design with glowing cheeks, ultrasonic “eyes,” and a playful stance. It wasn’t perfect—but it sparked something.

With couple of iterations we got pretty close to a render that could be replicated in 3D:

💯 Make it real!

We refined the concept using Makers Empire, a kid-friendly 3D modeling tool, and prepared the parts for printing on a Prusa 3D printer. The goal: keep it simple, snappy, and modular enough for classroom builds.

🛠️ The Build Process

I started...Read More

🐰 Happy Easter with Makers Empire and HP Robots 🤖

Thu, 17 Apr 2025 05:01:17 -0700

In a previous blog post we made a Santa Claus robot for winter, well now Spring is here, and Easter is just around the corner! What better way to celebrate than by combining creativity, 3D design, and robotics? Our exciting collaboration with Makers Empire has brought to life a fun and educational project that’s perfect for classrooms and homes alike. Introducing the Bunny Bot, a custom-built Otto robot with a festive Easter makeover! 🐰🤖

Who is Bunny Bot?

Bunny Bot is a delightful twist on the HP Otto robot, designed using Makers Empire’s intuitive 3D software. This project allows students, teachers, and makers to customize Otto with 3D-printed parts, transforming it into a charming Easter-themed robot complete with bunny ears and a cute little nose.

Why Makers Empire +

HP Robots Otto?

Makers Empire and HP Otto share a mission: to empower students to design, build, and code their own creations. This collaboration extends learning beyond the screen and into the physical world, combining design thinking, 3D printing, and robotics. With Makers Empire’s easy-to-use app, students can:

🎨 Customize 3D printable Otto parts
Read More

Unwrap the Magic of Christmas with Santa Otto!

Fri, 29 Nov 2024 03:16:12 -0800

❄️Christmas with Otto

The holiday season is upon us, and what better way to celebrate than with the Santa Otto competition, sale, and giveaway from HP Robots? This festive campaign is designed to bring joy, creativity, and a touch of robotics magic to your Christmas celebrations.

🎅 Santa Otto Limited Edition Kit

This year, HP Robots has launched a special Santa Otto Limited Edition kit, perfect for budding inventors and tech enthusiasts. Available only until December 1st, this kit is priced at an irresistible €99.95, down from the original €149.95 as BLACK FRIDAY deal!. The kit includes all the electronics and tools from the regular Otto starter kit, along with custom-colored 3D printed parts and festive accessories like a collapsible Santa hat and beard.

🎁 Santa Otto Kit Giveaway

In the spirit of Christmas, HP Robots is giving away one complete Santa Otto Kit to a lucky winner! To enter, simply follow the steps outlined on the website and make sure to complete every action to increase your chances of winning. This giveaway is a fantastic opportunity to get your hands on this limited edition kit for free.

🚀 The Journey of Otto to HP

Wed, 10 Apr 2024 03:38:23 -0700

Since 2016, Otto DIY has come a long way—from a simple open-source robot to a global movement in education and creativity. With the recent launch of the HP Otto, we’ve received many questions about what’s changed. This post is here to clarify those changes and share the behind-the-scenes story of how Otto evolved over the past years.

If you're new to Otto DIY, check out this post about how it all started to get the full backstory.

🌱 The Birth of Otto DIY

Back in 2016, Otto DIY sparked a wave of excitement in the maker world. The idea was simple but powerful: Anyone, anywhere could build a fun robot by downloading 3D-printable files and sourcing standard electronic parts themselves. It was truly open source, accessible, and community-driven.

This approach was revolutionary at the time—and it worked. The response was overwhelmingly positive, and Otto quickly gained traction while we were attending Maker Faire events.

💥 The Kickstarter That Went Wrong

Unfortunately, not all collaborations went as planned. A company called Acrobotic launched a Kickstarter campaign using Otto’s design. They promised to share 15% of the profits with us—but never did. They ghosted us, failed to deliver properly to backers, and damaged trust in the project. (Ironically they went out of business)

That experience was a wake-up call. While...Read More

Otto DIY listed as an AstroSAFE Approved resource

Tue, 19 Mar 2024 05:55:53 -0700

Exciting news! Otto DIY robot has received the esteemed endorsement of AstroSAFE, the safe browser and search engine for children, affirming Otto as a trusted resources for teachers, parents, and children. This recognition serves as a testament to our unwavering dedication to delivering top-tier educational tools while prioritizing safety and reliability.

At our core, we are committed to empowering educators, supporting parents, and nurturing children's development. Astrosafe's stamp of approval not only validates these values but also reinforces our mission to cultivate an enriching learning environment.

For educators, our platform serves as a vital resource for enhancing classroom engagement, facilitating learning, and driving academic success. Parents can rest assured knowing that our service aligns with their educational goals for their children, ensuring a seamless learning journey. And for children, our platform provides a secure and stimulating space to explore, learn, and flourish.

We extend our sincerest gratitude to Astrosafe for recognizing our efforts and advocating for safety and excellence in educational resources. This endorsement inspires us to continue innovating and refining our offerings, as we strive to better serve educators, parents, and children worldwide. Together, we're shaping a brighter future in education.

5 ways to calibrate biped robots like Otto

Tue, 05 Dec 2023 02:33:00 -0800

In a previous post we addressed how to calibrate Otto to walk straight but there are other alternatives. If you are new to Otto we still recommend you to read that article but most important to understand the difference between alignment and calibration of the servo motors.

1. Otto servo Calibration App

New users have now an easy interface to work with. One that is not as scary as the serial monitor. We have a video that shows the process：

UI design for the calibration app

You might be thinking; oh thats all! why to bother with other ways? well you might have some difficultties depending on your OS so continue reading. :D

2. Using desktop App

by @Jason SnoRead More

Let's make Otto with speech recognition and talk!

Thu, 16 Mar 2023 13:01:49 -0700

Everyone in the community wishes Otto to listen and talk (or any robot) and ask for it but is harder to make a reality than saying, or isn't?

Here are my leads, for the recognition part 🎤:

There are integrated solutions there are shields like the EasyVR is it worth the price? 🤔
Another module is this Arduino Voice Recognition Module - Geeetech
When I was living in Shanghai I got this one LD3320 Chinese Speech Recognition and MP3 Player ModuleRead More

3D model with code, Parametric customization with OpenSCAD

Mon, 05 Dec 2022 05:23:15 -0800

OpenSCAD is software for creating solid 3D CAD objects.

It is free software and available for Linux/UNIX, MS Windows and Mac OS X.

Basically you 3d model with code, which there are also some blockly initiatives for this:

We actually had Otto 3D modeled here long time ago for the thingiverse customizer

Just look at some examples @Martinperdeauxdid with OpenSCAD files attached for you to play with and you will get the point of how powerful this is.

These are the actual 3D printed models from the previous models

CADhub

This is a openscad API that...Read More

Learn coding for free while playing with Otto robot

Tue, 07 Jun 2022 01:51:10 -0700

👩‍🌾

We have a new and super exciting online coding game with Otto, for learning coding while having fun!

No matter your age or experience with programming you can start to learn how code works with this game.

Ideal to prepare yourself for the future. It makes programming joyful, exciting and easy for everyone.

An interactive free educational game made for anyone to getting started into Blockly, Python and JavaScript, both Block-Based and Text-Based programming .

🎮Wanna play right now?

Click the button bellow to run the demo (Works best in Google Chrome browser and is not meant for phone devices).

We Launched this game in the hour of code international coding event in 2021 to celebrate computer science with Otto robot!

🌽 Head start into programming

The popularity of computer science is increasing rapidly...Read More