ROBOTICS • EMBEDDED SYSTEMS • CAD

Omnix

An open-source, 3D-printed hexapod robot with 18 servos, multiple walking gaits, IMU sensing, and an animated face with live system dashboards.

GitHub repository ↗

YEAR2026

TYPERobotics Project

ROLEBuilder & Programmer

STATUSOpen-source build

Omnix six-legged robot render — Omnix hexapod robot render

OVERVIEW

A walking robot platform

Omnix combines mechanical design, embedded control, sensing, and expressive display into one six-legged robot.

The body, legs, head, and feet are 3D-printed. An ESP32 coordinates the robot's motion, settings, and inertial sensing, while a Beetle RP2350 drives a small color display for the animated face and live dashboards.

The repository documents the build from printed parts and wiring through firmware, calibration, troubleshooting, and motion diagnostics.

HIGHLIGHTS

Key details

6Legs

18MG90S servos

2Control boards

1IMU module

CAPABILITIES

What Omnix can do

Walk in multiple gaits

Omnix can move forward, backward, and sideways, turn, and switch between tripod, ripple, and wave walking patterns.

Adapt its stance

Servo targets control body height, stance width, foot lift, and step timing while joint limits and servo-rate guards protect movement.

Sense its orientation

The accelerometer and gyro support tilt readings, optional leveling, walking assists, and relative gyro heading during turns.

Show a living face

The display renders face animations, tricks, leg positions, stability information, walking assists, and system status dashboards.

HARDWARE

From printed parts to motion

Omnix is built as a complete electromechanical system rather than just a software demo.

Motion controllerAn ESP32 DevKit / ESP-WROOM-32 handles servo motion, settings, IMU data, Bluetooth, and walking control.

Servo systemEighteen MG90S servos provide three joints on each of the six legs.

Servo driversTwo PCA9685 boards provide the pulse outputs needed to control the robot's joints.

Face controllerA Beetle RP2350 renders the animated face and receives telemetry for live dashboards.

Display and powerA 240 × 320 ST7789 TFT provides the face display, with separate regulated supplies for servos and electronics.

Rendered Omnix hexapod body and legs — The printed body, six legs, head, and display form a modular platform for motion experiments.

CONTROL

Firmware that works offline

Normal operation is local. Omnix accepts typed commands over USB Serial or classic Bluetooth, and the walking, calibration, display, and diagnostic logic runs on the robot's boards without a cloud service.

MovementCommands include forward, reverse, turning, gait selection, stance adjustments, and body-height changes.

CalibrationServo directions, neutral positions, angle scales, battery readings, and IMU mounting can be calibrated for each robot.

DiagnosticsTiming, gyro status, modeled loads, memory, and system state can be inspected from the command interface.

ENGINEERING

Building and debugging in layers

One of the hardest parts of Omnix was separating software, wiring, power, calibration, and mechanical problems that could produce similar symptoms.

Intermittent IMU readings required testing spare sensors, boards, jumpers, power rails, and grounds.
The display's dimming behavior was traced to its regulated power input rather than its animation code.
Adding the printed head changed the robot's balance and made servo calibration, weight, and timing matter together.
A neural motion-estimation experiment ran too slowly for the incoming data, so the project focused on local equations and diagnostics that could run on the ESP32.

TECH STACK

What I used

CONTROLLERSESP32 DevKit / ESP-WROOM-32 · Beetle RP2350

FIRMWAREC / C++ · Arduino board packages · USB Serial · Bluetooth

SENSINGGY-521 IMU with accelerometer and gyro

MECHANICALCAD · 3D-printed body, legs, head, feet, and mounts

DISPLAYST7789 SPI TFT · Face animations · Live dashboards

RESOURCES

Build documentation

The repository includes the assembly guide, firmware setup, calibration steps, troubleshooting notes, CAD sources, print meshes, wiring diagrams, and bill of materials.

View Omnix on GitHub ↗ Assembly guide ↗ Firmware ↗ CAD files ↗