DZbotics is a hardware startup from Chennai, India, building Nameless — a desk companion robot — largely as the work of one founder. This is the build-in-public version of how that's going, and why we're doing it the way we are.
Why a companion robot, and why now
Desks got lonelier as work went remote, and we wanted an answer that didn't mean adding another always-online device to the desk. Nameless is that answer: an affordable, characterful object that keeps you company, fully offline, with zero data collection. We wrote up the broader category in what a desk companion robot is.
Building lean, on purpose
- 3D-printed PLA bodies let us iterate on the design without expensive tooling or large minimum orders.
- An ESP32-C3 brain keeps the bill of materials low and the platform open.
- Fully offline by design keeps the device private and dependency-free — see why we built it that way.
Constraints like these aren't just budget decisions; they keep the product hackable and the company honest about what it can deliver.
A small first batch, not a Kickstarter
Rather than a giant pre-order, we're keeping the first batch deliberately small at a one-time ₹2,499 (17% off the regular ₹2,999 price). Early supporters get a unit ahead of public launch to test, direct access to the founder, and a real say in features. Keeping the first cohort small means feedback actually shapes the product.
Where things stand
We've refined the prototype and units are now shipping. Building hardware solo means moving deliberately: every design choice has to survive contact with a 3D printer, a tight memory budget, and a real shipping deadline.