THE OPEN ROBOT DIRECTORY
Find your next robot to build. Discover open-source hardware, from the first printed part to the code that makes it move.
LESS SCROLLING.01 THE COLLECTION
Small hands. Big ideas. A rover for the long way home.
There’s a whole world of hardware to make your own.
QuadrupedNavBotHub
Mixed · actuators not documented
D1 is an open-source quadruped with public mechanical models, manufacturing drawings, printable STL parts, and a robot-level BOM.
Armcarpit68048 GitHub stars, snapshot Oct 30, 2026
3D-printed · actuators not documented
A ROS 2-compatible robotic manipulator with 3D-printed parts and separate leader and follower arm designs.
RoverNASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory9,723 GitHub stars, snapshot Oct 21, 2026
Aluminium · 10 actuators
A build-it-yourself model of JPL’s six-wheel Mars rovers, made from off-the-shelf aluminium parts.
Mobile robotOpenPodcar50 GitHub stars, snapshot Oct 30, 2026
Not documented · actuators not documented
A scooter-based vehicle platform for autonomous-vehicle research, with hardware build instructions, Arduino speed control and ROS vehicle drivers.
Costs are the maker’s documented figures, with their original scope. Stars are recorded GitHub snapshots, never a quality score. Active: activity within 90 days of the snapshot. Quiet: within a year. Dormant: longer. Read between the files
02 READ BETWEEN THE FILES
A public repository is a start. A buildable robot takes more. We look at six parts of every project, so you know what’s there before you get your hands busy.
Design files and printable parts. See what you can make, modify, and put together.
A bill of materials. The shopping list behind the build, with costs where documented.
Circuit designs, boards, and wiring. Custom hardware or off-the-shelf components.
The software that brings it to life. Check the stack before you start building.
A digital model to test, train, and explore before the hardware meets the real world.
Assembly instructions. Because a folder full of files isn’t the same as a finished robot.
Those are different questions. Hardware and software can carry different licenses. Every listing explains what’s available and what the documented licenses allow. If we don’t know, we say so.
