Hardware on Johnson Lai · Forward Deployed Engineer

XiaoZhi: The Open Source $15 AI Robot OS That's Changing Physical AI

Fri, 06 Jun 2025 09:59:18 +0800

Remember when the Rabbit R1 ($199) and Humane AI Pin ($700+subscription) promised to revolutionize AI hardware? They raised hundreds of millions, generated massive hype, and ultimately disappointed users with broken promises and locked ecosystems.

Rabbit R1 and Humane AI Pin

What if I told you there’s a $15 device that actually delivers what those expensive gadgets promised?

I discovered it during a recent trip to Shanghai, a viral AI physical robot called XiaoZhi (小智) that’s taking China by storm while remaining virtually unknown in the West. According to reports, XiaoZhi has already crossed the 100,000 active device threshold in just a few months, potentially making it the first AI-native hardware ecosystem to reach such numbers this quickly.

Blockchain IoT Weather Oracle on Chromia with Arduino

Sun, 22 Sep 2024 11:21:52 +0800

Introduction Link to heading

Integrating IoT with blockchain technology enhances data security, transparency, and reliability—crucial for IoT applications. Blockchain’s tamper-proof ledger and ability to timestamp data make it ideal for securely managing IoT information.

In this guide, we’ll build a blockchain-based IoT weather oracle using a thermistor sensor, Arduino, and Johnny-Five.js, storing real-time data on Chromia, a Layer-1 relational blockchain platform.

Project Overview Link to heading

We’ll create a weather data oracle using:

Run Chasm Node with Home PC

Sat, 20 Jul 2024 15:59:18 +0800

Chasm nodes are lightweight and can run on devices with as little as 2GB of RAM, including a Raspberry Pi. This guide is intended for those who want to try running a scout node for fun and to understand the Chasm Network better.

Important Note: For optimal security, low latency, and better performance, we strongly recommend using a Virtual Private Server (VPS) instead of a home PC to run your Chasm node. This guide is primarily for educational purposes and for those who want to experiment with running a node at home.