The week on the bench · Monday to Sunday, UTC

Week 21, 2026 · 18 to 24 May

14 entries published: 9 tools, 1 build, 1 guide, 3 news. This page lists what was published; it is not a newsletter issue.

The week as a scope trace

One channel per kind, one pulse per entry at the hour it was published. Taller pulses have more points.

Build of the week · BB-0056

A Wired reporter gives his OpenClaw agent a LeRobot SO-101 arm

Wired's Will Knight connected OpenClaw and Codex to a LeRobot SO-101 arm with a camera. Codex configured the connections, helped calibrate the joints and wrote a script that grips a red ball the camera sees. OpenClaw then guided training of a control model, checking its error rate after each run. The article's clips show the arm at work.

Shown workingBy Will Knight · wired.com · Wed 20 May, 18:00 UTC

Tools9

All tools

Sat 23 May17:255 mo ago
ToolBB-0062github.com5 starsPython
OpenOCD MCU MCP: an OpenOCD bridge and Codex skill for Cortex-M debugging
OpenOCD MCU MCP connects a coding agent to a microcontroller through OpenOCD, using an MCP server and a Codex skill. The agent can identify the chip, halt and reset it, read registers and memory, and decode peripheral registers from CMSIS-SVD files. The README includes a smoke test on an STM32F407 over a CMSIS-DAP probe.
Shown working
Sat 23 May07:535 mo ago
ToolBB-0061github.com11 starsRust
serial-mcp: a Rust MCP server for UART and USB serial with boot capture and line control
serial-mcp exposes UART and USB serial ports to coding agents such as Claude Code and Codex through 25 MCP tools, written in Rust. An always-on receive buffer answers reads with pattern matching instead of blocking. A boot-capture tool pulses DTR or RTS for Arduino auto-reset, and port allowlists limit what the agent can open. The README shows no board logs.
Claimed
Thu 21 May15:075 mo ago
ToolBB-0059github.com151 starsPython
AI Desk Card: an agent skill that flashes and runs an M5Paper e-ink desk display
AI Desk Card, a skill for Claude Code and similar agents, sets up an M5Paper V1.1 e-ink panel as a desk display. The agent installs PlatformIO, flashes the font and firmware, starts a local daemon and sets up Wi-Fi. Widgets range from weather to a pull-request queue. The README has a photo of the panel on a desk.
Shown working
Thu 21 May05:425 mo ago
ToolBB-0057dev.to20 starsC++
QClaw: a small agent that lives on an Arduino UNO Q and flashes its own microcontroller
QClaw runs a Qwen3.5 0.8B model and a Go agent loop on the Linux side of an Arduino UNO Q board. Its 8 tools include camera capture, I2C scans and sketch compiles that OpenOCD flashes to the board's MCU over SWD. David Laurenvil says it scrolls text across the LED matrix offline; we have not seen photos or logs.
Claimed
Wed 20 May15:205 mo ago
ToolBB-0055interconnected.org102 starsC++
Resident: a Lua sandbox for ESP32 devices with Claude skills that write and push apps
Matt Webb's company Inanimate released Resident, an open-source library that adds a Lua sandbox with hardware drivers to ESP32 devices. Apps arrive over Wi-Fi and hot-load without reflashing. Bundled Claude skills create, validate and push apps to a device such as the M5StickS3. Webb writes that sandboxed apps get buttons and screens but not the network stack.
Claimed
Tue 19 May14:145 mo ago
ToolBB-0053github.comCurator pick0 starsPython
mcp-strumentazione: Claude drives a Tektronix scope and an HP GPIB bench over MCP
mcp-strumentazione connects Claude to a Tektronix TBS2204B oscilloscope over LXI and to an HP GPIB bench through 2 MCP servers. The bench server drives a 6632A supply, 6060B electronic load, 5334B counter and 3457A meter. The README includes measurements Claude took through them, among them a mains waveform and a lamp I-V sweep.
Shown working
Tue 19 May07:025 mo ago
ToolBB-0052github.com106 starsTypeScript
Edge Agents: an offline agent runtime for Linux edge boards
Edge Agents, from ForestHub, runs AI agent workflows offline on Linux edge boards in a container of about 30 MB. Workflows mix GPIO, ADC, PWM, UART and MQTT nodes with local small language models or cloud LLMs. The README says 5 boards, including a Raspberry Pi 5 and a Jetson Orin Nano, were exercised on the authors' bench.
Claimed
Mon 18 May11:325 mo ago
ToolBB-0050github.com0 starsPython
mcp-ppk2: a Nordic PPK2 power profiler for Claude Code
mcp-ppk2 connects Claude Code to a Nordic Power Profiler Kit II, which powers the device under test. Its 8 MCP tools capture current at 100 kHz and split each run into boot, radio TX, radio RX, idle and sleep phases. Runs can be compared within a session; flashing happens elsewhere. The README shows example output, not measured captures.
Claimed
Mon 18 May09:175 mo ago
ToolBB-0049github.com62 starsPython
DCP: Device Context Protocol for LLM agents on small microcontrollers
DCP defines a compact protocol and reference firmware through which LLM agents call intent-level actions on small microcontrollers. A host-side bridge exposes each intent as an MCP tool and checks capability tokens, units and ranges before anything reaches the board. The README lists 13 of 13 round-trip tests passing on an ESP32-WROOM-32 and an ESP32-S3.
Claimed

Builds1

All builds

Wed 20 May18:005 mo ago
BuildBB-0056wired.comBuild of the week
A Wired reporter gives his OpenClaw agent a LeRobot SO-101 arm
Wired's Will Knight connected OpenClaw and Codex to a LeRobot SO-101 arm with a camera. Codex configured the connections, helped calibrate the joints and wrote a script that grips a red ball the camera sees. OpenClaw then guided training of a control model, checking its error rate after each run. The article's clips show the arm at work.
Shown working

Guides1

All guides

Thu 21 May13:145 mo ago
GuideBB-0058youtube.com
MathWorks tech talk on an agent building a Simulink pendulum controller
MathWorks shows an agentic AI tool working with MATLAB and Simulink to control an inverted pendulum on a Quanser Qube-Servo and Raspberry Pi. In the 14-minute video the agent helps define requirements, builds the Simulink model and designs a model predictive controller. After model-, software- and processor-in-the-loop tests, the final chapter deploys the generated code to the hardware.
Shown working

News3

All news

Fri 22 May13:515 mo ago
NewsBB-0060arxiv.org
RFIA: an agent that plans RF measurements while a deterministic runtime drives the VNA
Chunhui Li and Wei Fan describe RFIA, an RF instrument agent whose LLM plans while a deterministic runtime operates the instrument. A knowledge base supplies verified skills, workflow templates and SCPI command lookup. On a commercial vector network analyzer, the paper reports all 16 benchmark tasks handled with both MiniMax-M2.7 and Qwen3.6-27B, including 1 expected safety rejection.
Claimed
Wed 20 May14:595 mo ago
NewsBB-0054arxiv.org
AutoMCU: a multi-agent system that designs neural networks to fit STM32 microcontrollers
Penglin Dai and co-authors describe AutoMCU, an LLM multi-agent system that designs neural networks to fit a microcontroller's RAM and flash limits. Vendor toolchain checks reject candidates that would not fit before any training. The paper reports competitive CIFAR accuracy after 1 to 2 hours of customization and tests on several STM32 parts; no code is linked.
Claimed
Mon 18 May18:005 mo ago
NewsBB-0051youtube.com
Assemble Labs CTO on closing the firmware test loop with autonomous agents
Craig Schindler, CTO of Assemble Labs, describes how the company has AI agents write experiments for embedded devices and interpret sensor and power data. The 10-minute interview was recorded at NVIDIA GTC 2026. His main case study is a wearable health sensor, including how power regressions are found and fixed. The video shows no bench footage of the agents.
Claimed