Pocket talking creature · v6.1.6

There's a giant
in this box.

v6.1 build and send your own Atlas packs — no code

Atlas is an open-source handheld built on an ESP32-S3: 37 modes, 19 of them games, a face that never stops talking, head-to-head play over Bluetooth, and now a remote for a Pioneer rover and a window onto the Relay mesh. Plug a board into USB and flash it right here in your browser.

SH1106 128×64 ATLAS_BOARD_S3

NEW · v6.1

Make your own thing for Atlas.

A joke deck, a quiz, a choose-your-own-adventure, a light show — build it in your browser and send it to your Atlas over USB. It shows up in the Community folder. No code, no re-flashing.


01

Flash it from your browser

No Arduino IDE, no command line, no Python. A supported browser talks to the board over Web Serial and writes the firmware directly. Takes about ten seconds.

  1. Use Chrome, Edge, or Opera on a desktop. Web Serial isn't in Safari or Firefox, and not on mobile.
  2. Plug the Waveshare ESP32-S3 Mini into a USB port with a data-capable cable. A new serial port should appear.
  3. Pick a mode: Update keeps the Community games and settings already on the Atlas; Fresh install wipes the whole device first.
  4. Hit Install Atlas and pick that port in the browser dialog.
  5. If nothing flashes: hold BOOT, tap RESET, release BOOT, which forces download mode, then try again.
  6. The board reboots into Atlas. The OLED shows the boot splash within two seconds.
FIRMWARE · v6.1.6 · ESP32-S3
This browser can't do Web Serial. Use desktop Chrome / Edge / Opera, or flash with the scripts below.
Prefer the command line? The batch & Python flashers are still here.
It can't brick your board, and updates keep your stuff. The default Update mode writes only the firmware — your Community games and boot-mode setting stay exactly where they were. Nothing you flash can physically harm the hardware, and a bad build is always one re-flash away from fixed: worst case, hold BOOT + tap RESET and flash a known-good version.

Chip
ESP32‑S3 FH4R2
Display
128×64 SH1106 OLED
Modes
37 19 games
Firmware
~41k lines, one file

02

Two Atlases. One Bluetooth link. Play.

Atlas Social mode. Two units find each other over BLE, with no internet, no accounts, no servers. Hit Social, pick a three-letter handle, drop into a lobby, and play. Host-authoritative physics with client-side prediction so motion stays smooth and inputs feel instant even over a wireless link.

How the link works. One Atlas hosts, the other joins. The host runs the authoritative physics; the client renders smooth motion from snapshot interpolation and predicts its own inputs locally so the controls feel live. No pairing. No setup. No persistent identity. Walk out of range and the connection ends; walk back and you reconnect. The whole stack is open source and runs on NimBLE-Arduino.

03

Beyond the handheld (new in v6)

v6 made Atlas more than a pocket toy. The same handheld now drives a rover across the floor and rides a long-range mesh across the neighbourhood. No internet, no accounts, no servers.

// PIONEER MODE

Drive a Pioneer rover

Pick Pioneer mode, scan over Bluetooth, connect, and the dial becomes a throttle and a steering wheel. A tracked ESP32-S3 rover that turns in place and spins, driven Room-style from the Atlas already in your hand.

Meet Pioneer →
// RELAY

Ride the Relay mesh

Atlas joins the Relay LoRa mesh on its own private channel. It sees who is online and the nodes a relay can reach, and passes messages across town over a mesh you share with your neighbours, not a carrier with a meter running.

Meet Relay →

04

Build one yourself

Atlas is open hardware. Print the case, add a board and a battery, snap it together, and flash it from your browser. Everything you need is open and free.

// PRINT

Print the case

The full set of printable parts, the shell, the screen window, the dial, and the light pipe, lives on MakerWorld, free to download and print on any FDM printer.

Get the model files →
// PARTS

The board and bits

A Waveshare ESP32-S3 Mini, a 128×64 SH1106 OLED, a rotary encoder, three WS2812B LEDs, and a small LiPo. Source the parts yourself, or buy a finished Atlas. Custom-PCB kits are coming soon.

Buy a finished one →
// FLASH

Bring it to life

Plug the board into USB and flash Atlas straight from this page. No Arduino IDE, no command line, about ten seconds and the face wakes up.

Flash your board →
Want the deep build details? The full bill of materials, the pin-wiring table, and the Arduino IDE setup are in the build and flash guide.

05

Modify and vibe-code it

Atlas is meant to be torn open. The full firmware source lives here as one file, downloadable whole to read and change, or sliced into chunks small enough to hand a coding model whose context window can't swallow the lot.

// SOURCE

The firmware, browsable

All 41,395 lines of atlas_v6_1_6_pioneer.ino. Download the whole file, or browse it section by section, and each chunk shows a token estimate so you know what'll fit.

Open the source →
// PRIMER

The dev primer

Read it to learn the system, or hand it to a coding model first. It pins down the hardware, the pin map, the firmware layout, and the non-negotiable rules so the code, yours or a model's, actually compiles.

Read the primer →
// TOOLCHAIN

Command-line flashers

flash_atlas.py (cross-platform, with a batch mode) and flash_atlas.bat for Windows. Plus the full Arduino IDE build & wiring guide.

Get the tools →
The vibe-coding workflow: open a chat with a coding model, give it the primer plus the source (whole file if it fits, relevant chunks if it doesn't), then describe the mode or animation you want. With the primer it already knows the screen size, the pin map, and the house style, so it stops guessing and starts building.