Replacing Vector Robot Brain Board

Worked for 46 sec
Thought for 25 sec — any "No Connect" pins as well. I should probably run the .
Editing "vector-head-board-connector-notes" project doc.
Thought for 12 sec
5/6 Run ERC/DRC checks

Inspect current schematic nets around J1, U1, U2, and headers

Rewire schematic as listen-only 4-wire Vector tap

Update component roles/notes for beginner-safe use

Re-place/re-route passive wiretap PCB

Run ERC/DRC checks

Summarize what changed and remaining risks

Thought for 13 sec
Completed 10 design checks — found 4 issues.
Getting a schematic overview.
Getting a layout overview.
T

tattooedlowlife

there are 2 wires (one red and one black) that go into the part thats attached to the board.. on each side.
Created a project doc

Passive Wiretap Board Status

View Document
This board has been redesigned as a safe listen-only wiretap for the Vector head/body 4-wire cable. It no longer includes the ESP32-C3 or ac...

flux

Done — I redesigned it as a passive listen-only wiretap.
What changed:
  • Removed ESP32-C3 and level-shifter from the signal path.
  • Kept only headers + protection resistors.
  • Mapped the confirmed Vector wires:
    • black GND
    • red VMAIN
    • white BODY_RX
    • green TX1.8
  • Routed the simplified PCB.
  • Ran ERC/DRC checks: no errors/warnings came back in the checked categories.
Saved status here:
Passive Wiretap Board Status
Open item:
  • This is still a hand-wired/probe board, not the final drop-in Vector connector board.
Document, BOM, export
Create wiring guide
Check BOM cost
Export files
Review manufacturability
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Files

Schematic

Layout

3D View

J2
R2
Resistance
10kΩ
R1
Resistance
10kΩ
R3
Resistance
100kΩ
J1
Software Architecture Notes — wire-pod / Vector Home Server
Primary Repository
  • GitHub: kercre123/wire-pod
  • Purpose: free, fully-featured server software for Anki / Digital Dream Labs Vector robots.
  • Intended use: allows Vector 1.0 / 2.0 voice commands to work without the paid official cloud service.
Acknowledgements Captured from README
The README credits:
  • Digital Dream Labs for open sourcing chipper and creating Escape Pod.
  • bliteknight for making wire-pod more accessible with pre-setup Linux boxes.
  • dietb for rewriting chipper and giving tips.
  • fforchino for localization, multilanguage, and other features.
  • xanathon for publicity and web-interface help.
  • Contributors who opened issues or pull requests.
Repository Layout Observed
Top-level folders/files include:
  • chipper/
  • vector-cloud/
  • docker/
  • compose.yaml
  • dockerfile
  • setup.sh
  • update.sh
The chipper/ folder includes:
  • cmd/
  • epod/
  • intent-data/
  • jdocs/
  • pkg/
  • plugins/
  • session-certs/
  • webroot/
  • go.mod
  • go.sum
  • start.sh
Relevant Features for This Project
wire-pod already matches much of this project’s software goal:
  • Acts as a local Vector voice/cloud replacement.
  • Supports custom commands.
  • Supports knowledge-graph / question-style commands through providers such as Houndify, OpenAI, Together, or Ollama.
  • Supports direct LLM routing / intent-graph behavior with supported providers, where unmatched transcribed text can be sent to an LLM without requiring a special phrase first.
  • Maintains compatibility with Vector SDK configuration when a bot is authenticated.
Home Server Runtime Notes
Supported host environments include Linux, macOS, Windows, Android, and Docker Compose. For this project, a Linux home server is the best target.
Important assumptions:
  • Vector and wire-pod should be on the same LAN.
  • The web UI generally runs on port 8080.
  • Some setup paths expect escapepod.local / mDNS behavior.
  • Only one active wire-pod instance should be running on the LAN.
  • Production robots need the appropriate Escape Pod firmware path; regular Vector firmware alone is not enough.
Hardware Implication
This reduces the need to replace the whole brain immediately. A safer path is:
  1. Use stock Vector hardware + wire-pod to establish local-server voice/LLM behavior.
  2. Add custom commands/LLM routing on the server side.
  3. Only replace or augment hardware after the desired behavior is proven in software.
ESP32-C3 Role with wire-pod
ESP32-C3 is still useful, but mostly as an auxiliary controller:
  • Extra sensors/accessories
  • Simple telemetry bridge
  • Debug/status interface
  • Experimental motor/sensor control outside the stock Vector stack
It should not be the main Vector replacement brain if the goal includes camera, display, audio, and stock-like behavior.
Use wire-pod as the baseline home-server brain first. The custom PCB should initially be an interposer/expansion or body-controller experiment, not a full Qualcomm head-board replacement. This keeps the robot functional while enabling custom LLM behavior faster and with much lower risk.

  • Primary Repository

  • Acknowledgements Captured from README

  • Repository Layout Observed

  • Relevant Features for This Project

  • Home Server Runtime Notes

  • Hardware Implication

  • ESP32-C3 Role with wire-pod

  • Recommended Project Direction