Jan. 23, 2026 – M5Stack, a global leader in modular IoT and embedded development platforms, today announced the launch of StickS3, the latest addition to its signature Stick series.
Built for developers and makers, StickS3 is a compact, high-performance programmable controller designed for remote control and IoT applications. Powered by the ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8, it delivers enhanced performance and optimized interaction capabilities, making it well suited for smart devices and a wide range of IoT development scenarios.
To enable these capabilities, StickS3 introduces a series of meaningful hardware and capability upgrades:
Key Features
Upgraded Core
Powered by ESP32-S3-PICO-1-N8R8, StickS3 ensures higher processing performance, USB-OTG support, Bluetooth LE 5, and improved suitability for AI and edge computing applications, compared with the ESP32-PICO-V3-02 used in StickC-Plus2.
Enhanced Audio
StickS3 upgrades its audio system with an ES8311 mono audio codec, a MEMS microphone, and an onboard speaker, enabling true audio input and output for voice interaction and audio playback.
Extended Battery Life
StickS3 is equipped with a 250 mAh internal battery, providing stable power support for extended interactive use cases.
Expanded Memory
StickS3 comes with 8 MB Flash and 8 MB PSRAM, providing significantly expanded program storage and runtime memory.
Enhanced Expansion Options
StickS3 features the newly added Hat2-Bus (2.54-16P), giving access to more GPIO and communication resources, along with an integrated IR receiver for infrared control.
Detailed Specification
Development Potential
Beyond the hardware upgrades, the real strength of the Stick series lies in its development ecosystem and community creativity. With its compact form factor and ease of use, the Stick Series has become a signature product line within the M5Stack family, offering rich development potential and a wide range of use cases—especially for beginners.
Taking StickC-Plus2 as an example, the community has built a diverse collection of projects and custom firmware around it. Thanks to its portable design, it has been widely adopted for wearable and handheld applications, enabling creators to turn it into anything from a smartwatch to a security-testing tool.
Now, with the release of StickS3, a more powerful and highly integrated evolution of the series, it’s time to unlock even greater possibilities—driven by both the enhanced hardware and the passionate community behind Stick.
Jan.2026, M5Stack officially announced its collaboration with SquareLine Vision, a next-generation UI design platform built to simplify and accelerate graphical interface development for embedded systems. As part of this partnership, SquareLine Vision has completed device adaptation for selected M5Stack products, enabling developers to design, preview, and deploy UIs more efficiently.
With this integration, M5Stack Core2 and Tab5 are now fully supported in SquareLine Vision v1.2.1, allowing users to directly select these devices when designing interfaces. This marks an important step toward lowering the barrier to embedded UI development and streamlining the workflow from design to deployment.
Experience Effortless UI Development with SquareLine Vision
SquareLine Vision provides a visual, drag-and-drop environment for creating user interfaces quickly and easily. Developers can focus on layout, interaction, and user experience while SquareLine Vision generates production-ready code behind the scenes. This approach helps shorten development cycles and makes UI iteration faster and more intuitive.
Seamless Hardware Integration for Further Development
The completed integration ensures that UI designs created in SquareLine Vision can be deployed seamlessly on M5Stack devices, with display resolution, touch input, and hardware characteristics already accounted for. This reduces the burden of hardware–software integration and allows developers to focus on further development.
Supported devices include:
Core2 — a second-generation M5Stack Core controller featuring an ESP32-D0WDQ6-V3 dual-core LX6 CPU (up to 240 MHz), 16 MB Flash, 8 MB PSRAM, Wi-Fi connectivity, and a 2.0-inch capacitive touch screen, with programming supported via USB Type-C.
Tab5 — a highly expandable, portable smart IoT terminal designed for developers, integrating a dual-core architecture and rich hardware resources. It is built around the ESP32-P4 SoC based on the RISC-V architecture, featuring 16MB Flash and 32MB PSRAM for high-performance application development.
By combining M5Stack’s modular hardware ecosystem with SquareLine Vision’s effortless UI design workflow, developers can now move from concept to functional interface with greater speed, clarity, and confidence.
About M5Stack
M5Stack is a leading provider of modular, open-source IoT development solutions. Our stackable hardware and intuitive programming platform empower developers and businesses to accelerate innovation and rapidly prototype solutions for IIoT, home automation, smart retail, and STEM education.
About SquareLine Vision
SquareLine is a next generation UI editor for individuals and professionals to design and develop beautiful UIs for your embedded devices quickly and easily. Offering a unique cross-platform software, which enables design and implementation in one tool.
Jan. 13, 2026 — M5Stack, a global leader in modular IoT and embedded development platforms, today launched StackChan, the first community-co-created open-source AI desktop robot, built on a proven ESP32 platform and designed to be endlessly hackable by makers worldwide.
Unlike closed, concept-driven AI robots, StackChan exposes its hardware, firmware, and interaction logic from day one — turning a playful desktop companion into a real development platform.
StackChan is now live on Kickstarter with a $65 Super Early Bird offer available for the first 72 hours.
From Community to the Globe: How StackChan Was Born
Before its official launch by M5Stack, StackChan had already existed as a community-driven project since 2021. Built on M5Stack standard controller, Core series, it began as a personal open-source project by maker Shinya Ishikawa, sustained and shaped through ongoing community contributions.
As more enthusiasts joined the project, contributors like Takao, who helped popularize the DIY kits, and Robo8080, who introduced AI capabilities, played key roles in expanding StackChan beyond its original form.
Inspired by StackChan’s expandability and creative potential, M5Stack officially brought the project to life as its first ready-to-play yet endlessly hackable desktop robot—while keeping its community-driven spirit at the core.
What Remains: Core Computing & Interaction Capabilities
As with the original version, StackChan continues to use the M5Stack flagship Core Series (CoreS3)as its main controller. CoreS3 is powered by an ESP32-S3 SoC with a 240 MHz dual-core processor, 16 MB Flash, and 8 MB PSRAM, and supports both Wi-Fi and BLE connectivity.
To enable richer interactions, the main unit integrates a 2.0-inch capacitive touch display, a 0.3 MP camera, a proximity sensor, a 9-axis IMU (accelerometer + gyroscope + magnetometer). It also includes a microSD card slot, a 1W speaker, dual microphones, and power/reset buttons. Together, these hardware components form a solid foundation for StackChan’s audio-visual interactive experiences.
For more technical details, please refer to the StackChan documentation: https://docs.m5stack.com/en/StackChan
What’s New: Ready-to-Play Functions Powered by Advanced Hardware
For the robot body, several advancements have been made to make it easier to get hands-on and improve the out-of-box experience. It features:
Power & connectivity: A USB-C interface for both power and data, paired with a built-in 700 mAh battery.
Movement system: 2 feedback servos supporting 360° continuous rotation on the horizontal axis and 90° vertical tilt—enabling expressive movements with real-time position feedback.
Visual feedback: 2 rows totaling 12 RGB LEDs for expressive system and interaction feedback.
Sensors & interaction: Infrared transmission and reception, a three-zone touch panel, and a full-featured NFC module enabling touch- and identity-based interactions.
On the software side, StackChan is ready-to-play for starters with no coding required. The pre-installed factory firmware delivers:
Expressive faces and motions: Preloaded with vivid facial expressions and coordinated movements that bring personality and liveliness to StackChan.
Built-in AI agent: Integrates an AI agent for natural voice-based interaction and conversational experiences.
App-based remote interaction: Supports official iOS app for video calls, remote avatar control, and real-time interaction with StackChan.
Chan-to-Chan Friends Map: Enables discovery of nearby StackChan devices, unlocking playful multi-device and social interaction scenarios.
Open for customization: While beginner-friendly by default, the firmware supports further development via Arduino and UiFlow2, making it easy to create custom applications.
100% Open-Source: Built to Be Customized and Extended
In an era filled with closed, concept-driven “AI robot” products, StackChan stands out with its open-source core. From firmware and hardware interfaces to development tools, every layer is designed to be explored, modified, and extended by users.
Beyond code, StackChan also encourages physical customization. With 3D printing and creative accessories, users can personalize their StackChan’s appearance and turn it into a unique desktop companion.
Open-source repository: https://github.com/m5stack/StackChan
Fun with Global Community: Share, Extend, and Evolve Together
Since its birth, StackChan has grown into a vibrant global community of makers, developers, and enthusiasts. From sharing projects and source code online to hosting meetups and anniversary events offline, the community continues to expand what StackChan can be.
Owning a StackChan is not just about building a robot—it’s about being part of an open ecosystem where ideas and creativity evolve together.
StackChan is not built to its end at launch. It is built to grow—through open technology, creative experimentation, and a global community that continues to redefine what a desktop robot can be.
Discover your StackChan on Kickstarter now: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/m5stack/stackchan-the-first-co-created-open-source-ai-desktop-robot?ref=d5iznw&utm_source=PR
