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THE NABAZTAG WI-FI RABBIT FROM 2006, ALIVE AGAIN

The Nabaztag Wi-Fi rabbit went silent in 2011 when its servers shut down — this board brings it back.

by Olivier Mével and the nabaztag2018 community

FULL CAD BOM FIRMWARE DOCS

HomeAutomation

Built withRaspberry Pi

difficulty
●●●●○
time
a weekend-plus
license
GPL-3.0
repo
repo ACTIVE174 stars

WHAT YOU’LL NEED

Videos
1
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COMPAREE VERDICT

This is for someone who already owns a silent Nabaztag or Nabaztag:tag and wants it working again. The TagTagTag board puts a Raspberry Pi Zero inside the rabbit, and Pynab (GPL-3.0, last commit January 2025) runs the ears, LEDs, sound and RFID reader, with a web interface and services for weather, clock, air quality, IFTTT, Mastodon and more. The easy route is a release image: Raspberry Pi OS Lite or DietPi with Pynab pre-installed. The manual developer install is harder, because you build the sound, ear and RFID kernel drivers yourself. The 2018 Maker Faire board works only with the original Nabaztag (no microphones, no RFID). The 2019 Ulule board works with both models and adds voice recognition through on-board microphones. The single biggest trap: current release images (>0.7.x) do not work on the 2018 board. The README says so and points to issue #44, so check which board you have before you flash anything.

GOOD TO KNOW

  • —The Pynab repository (GPL-3.0) contains the rabbit daemon, service daemons, a web interface and an install script for Raspberry Pi OS or DietPi; release images come with Pynab pre-installed.
  • —The TagTagTag V2.0 board's Altium sources, Gerbers, drill files, pick-and-place file, BOM (xlsx) and schematic PDF are in the separate nabaztag2018/hardware repository, next to the 2022 NFC board and the 2018 legacy files. That repository states no licence.
  • —Boards were sold through the Ulule campaigns of May 2019 and October 2021; otherwise you have one made from the fabrication files.
  • —The manual developer install requires building the sound, ears and RFID kernel drivers yourself; the release images do not.

Parts to buy

4 items

From our check of the build. Exact quantities and part numbers are in the creator’s BOM.

  • TagTagTag boardFind
  • Raspberry Pi Zero WFind
  • Nabaztag or Nabaztag:tagFind
  • MicroSD cardFind

Can I build this?

Printnothing required
BuyTagTagTag board (from the Ulule campaigns or made from the hardware repository files), Raspberry Pi Zero W, a Nabaztag or Nabaztag:tag, microSD card
Toolstriangle screwdriver to open the rabbit, microSD card reader and a computer to flash the image; for the manual install also an SSH client and Linux command-line skills
Skillsbeginner to intermediate with a release image (flashing a microSD card, Wi-Fi setup); advanced for the manual install (compiling kernel drivers, PostgreSQL, systemd)
Timea weekend-plus for the manual install (driver builds, database setup, services); much less with a release image
Cost$$ — the sources give no prices; the 2021 Ulule kit bundled the board, a Raspberry Pi Zero WH, a microSD card and a triangle screwdriver.
SafetyLow-voltage electronics only. Unplug the rabbit's power supply before opening it.

Build at your own risk. Projects involve tools, electronics and sometimes mains voltage — follow the creator’s safety notes.

Videos

Un Raspberry dans votre Nabaztag ?47:37

French-language walkthrough by arduiblog (July 2022): installing the TagTagTag board in a Nabaztag and a Nabaztag:tag, installing pynab, setting up Wi-Fi, testing the services and trying a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

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Gallery

Start here

Navigation into the creator’s own docs — we don’t rewrite the guide, we route you to the source.

  1. 1.Check which board you need (The 2018 board works only with the v1 Nabaztag (no mics, no RFID). The 2019 Ulule board works with both models and adds voice recognition. Current release images (>0.7.x) do not work on 2018 boards.)
  2. 2.Get the TagTagTag board (Schematics, fabrication files and BOM are here; boards were also sold through the 2019 and 2021 Ulule campaigns.)
  3. 3.Flash a Pynab release image (Raspberry Pi OS Lite or DietPi with Pynab pre-installed) to a microSD card (For the manual developer install instead, use Debian 11 (Bullseye) with Python 3.9 or Debian 10 (Buster) with Python 3.7, with kernel headers that match the running kernel.)
  4. 4.Manual install only: build and load the kernel drivers (Sound (WM8960 for the 2019 board, HiFiBerry for 2018), ears (tagtagtag-ears), RFID (CR14 for the Nabaztag:tag, st25r391x for the 2022 NFC board).)
  5. 5.Manual install only: run the install script (Install PostgreSQL and the packages listed in the README first; the script then installs and starts the services via systemd. Use the --makerfaire2018 flag if you have the 2018 board.)

Resources

Documentation, files and community threads for this build — we link straight to the original sources and never rehost the creator’s files.

KNOWN ISSUES

  • Current release images (>0.7.x) do not work on the 2018 Maker Faire board (issue #44). With a 2018 board, use the manual install with `bash install.sh --makerfaire2018`.
  • The TagTagTag board was sold through Ulule campaigns. If you cannot find one, you have to order and assemble it from the Gerbers and BOM in the hardware repository.
  • For the manual install, the kernel headers installed with apt must match the running kernel, otherwise the sound, ears and RFID drivers will not build.
  • Changing the voice-recognition vocabulary means editing the grammar and dictionary in the asr/ folder and rebuilding the Kaldi model with adapt-model.sh, which needs Docker.
  • The rabbit itself is discontinued. You need a physical Nabaztag or Nabaztag:tag, which means eBay or a drawer. If the shell is cracked or the original motors are dead, the board will not fix that.
  • The manual install sets up PostgreSQL, Nginx and the Pynab services under systemd on the Pi Zero, so use a good-quality microSD card.

Can I buy the TagTagTag board ready-made?

The boards were sold through the Ulule campaigns of May 2019 and October 2021. The schematics, Gerbers and BOM are in the nabaztag2018/hardware repository, so you can also have one made at a PCB house.

Does it work on the original Nabaztag (v1) or only the Nabaztag:tag (v2)?

The 2019 Ulule board works on both. The 2018 Maker Faire board works only on v1 and has no microphones or RFID support.

Do I need the original Violet cloud servers?

No. Pynab runs on the Raspberry Pi inside the rabbit and has its own web interface for configuration.

What if I have never compiled a kernel module?

You do not have to. The release images are Raspberry Pi OS Lite or DietPi with Pynab pre-installed. Building the sound, ears and RFID drivers yourself is only needed for the manual developer install, and current release images (>0.7.x) do not work on the 2018 board.

Which Raspberry Pi does it use?

The TagTagTag board replaces the rabbit's microcontroller with a Raspberry Pi Zero (W); the Ulule kit shipped with a Raspberry Pi Zero WH. The arduiblog video also tests a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.

Community builds

No community builds yet — be the first, we feature the best ones.

Discussion1

FROM THE COMPAREE TEAM

Mindscape stopped maintaining the Nabaztag in July 2011 and the rabbits lost their service. If you still have yours in a drawer, what would you make it announce first?

CompareeTEAM4d ago

Practical notes from our verification: the Pynab repository's last commit is from January 2025, the board's fabrication files and BOM sit in a separate hardware repository with no licence stated, and the README itself warns that current release images (>0.7.x) do not work on the 2018 Maker Faire board (issue #44). The arduiblog video (July 2022, in French) shows a working rabbit with the TagTagTag board.

Olivier Mével and the nabaztag2018 community

Olivier Mével co-invented the Nabaztag. After Mindscape stopped maintaining the rabbits in 2011, he and the nabaztag2018 community built the TagTagTag board and the Pynab software so the rabbits run on their own. The first board was made for Maker Faire Paris 2018; Ulule campaigns in May 2019 and October 2021 brought the new version to more owners.

GitHub

Star the project on GitHub

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  • Information is provided without warranty and may become outdated as projects evolve. Prices are indicative bands only — always check the creator’s parts list for current costs.
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