Harold Robotics / companion hardware · 2026

MaxBot

MaxBot is the companion I’m building through Harold Robotics. It now has guided learning games, an illustrated game menu, saved appearance settings, and a waking-eye startup. The work spans the physical display, firmware, local updater, and browser tools I use to develop its behavior.

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MaxBot prototype display showing a procedural face beside digital calipers — The physical display during an earlier bench session.MaxBot bench photograph; not a screenshot of the latest firmware.

My role: Product and embedded engineering
Status: Working hardware / active development
Contribution: Expressive face, touch and tilt interactions, guided games, firmware, and the local updater workflow.

ESP32-S3
C++
PlatformIO
Touch + IMU
Swift / macOS

Here’s the problem

The work has to make sense before the interface can.

A hardware prototype can look complete long before the physical system is actually proven. The work needs a clean line between browser concepts, compiled firmware, flashed hardware, and behavior observed on the bench.

What made this difficult

The environment is part of the product.

Faces, game instructions, and controls have to make sense on a 240 × 280 display.
Touch and tilt need clear ownership so playing a game does not accidentally trigger an exit or a companion reaction.
A passing firmware build or installation receipt does not prove comfortable physical play.

Decisions that shaped it

I made the hard boundaries visible.

Give play a clear ending

The learning games use short guided rounds, gentle hints, and explicit replay or home choices. Progress within these rounds stays in memory.

Keep evidence traceable

Releases record the source commit, build artifact, flashed target, and observed behavior separately.

Keep the companion familiar

Saved color and brightness carry into the waking-eye startup. The latest candidate refines petting and sleep reactions while keeping the same authored eyes.

ESP32-S3 development board used for MaxBot — The board used for the display and interaction work.MaxBot bench photograph from an earlier hardware session.

What I built

Enough of the system to test the real seam.

ESP32-S3 firmware for the display, touch, IMU, procedural face, and local interaction states.
Six illustrated game entries, including Firefly Garden and guided letter, counting, word, tracing, and shape activities.
Saved appearance and a short waking-eye sequence, plus newer candidate work on petting, release, and sleep reactions.
A local macOS updater with signed release packages and installation receipts; browser interaction labs remain separate from the device.

What is true now · September 5, 2026

The September 5 release record confirms dev.14 installed with healthy display, touch, IMU, and memory startup checks. The newer dev.15 companion reactions are a tested source candidate, not an installed release.

What still needs proving

Physical gameplay, animation timing, touch comfort, and child usability still need direct acceptance checks.
The latest development work is not yet committed to the main release branch.
Browser labs and the Parent Portal concept are previews, not proof of a connected device, remote controls, or collected child data.

Test the installed games on the real screen, validate the newer companion reactions on hardware, and reconcile the candidate source into the release history.