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Local Xiaozhi on a Waveshare ESP32-S3 audio board

A Xiaozhi voice assistant that only talks to your own LAN server.

Full build guide

Local Xiaozhi on a Waveshare ESP32-S3 audio board
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By Matt Adams

View original on matt-adams.co.uk
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Build sheet

Board
Waveshare ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board (ES8311/ES7210, dual mic AEC, amp, RGB LEDs)
AI model or service
On-board wake word/AEC, SenseVoice STT, local Gemma (LM Studio), Kokoro TTS via xiaozhi-esp32-server
Difficulty
Intermediate

Overview

Waveshare ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board (dual mic AEC, amp, LEDs) flashes Xiaozhi firmware and talks only to a LAN Docker server running SenseVoice + LM Studio Gemma + Kokoro—no public cloud after setup.

How it works

The Waveshare ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board runs Xiaozhi firmware; a LAN Docker server does SenseVoice STT, Gemma via LM Studio and Kokoro TTS.

Hardware

  • Waveshare ESP32-S3-AUDIO-Board (ES8311/ES7210, dual mic AEC, amp, RGB LEDs)

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