Show HN: ClawBox – Always-on AI assistant box (Jetson, 15W, 67 TOPS, €399)(openclawhardware.dev)

2 pointsby superactro7 hours ago2 comments

superactro7 hours ago
Hey HN, maker here. I built ClawBox because I got tired of paying $40+/mo for cloud VPS setups that still couldn't do browser automation reliably.
ClawBox is a dedicated hardware box (NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super) running OpenClaw (https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw), an open-source AI assistant framework. You plug it in, connect Telegram/WhatsApp/Discord, and it just runs - 24/7, on your desk, drawing 15W.
What it actually does: - Controls a real Chrome instance (fills forms, monitors sites, scrapes data) - On-device voice pipeline (Whisper STT + Kokoro TTS, no cloud) - Connects to any AI model (Claude, GPT-4, Gemini via API, or Llama 3 locally) - Reads your email, manages calendar, sends messages
The hardware: 67 TOPS AI performance, 8GB LPDDR5, 512GB NVMe, dual-band WiFi + BT 5.0, carbon fiber case. Setup takes ~5 minutes, no terminal needed.
I chose Jetson over Raspberry Pi because the GPU makes a real difference for browser automation + speech processing simultaneously. A Pi just can't keep up.
Cost comparison: ClawBox is EUR399 one-time. A comparable cloud VPS runs $30-50/mo. It pays for itself in under a year, and you own the hardware.
We've shipped 3 units so far (just launched last week). Happy to answer any questions about the hardware, software stack, or business side.
- RobMurrayan hour ago
  How have you found performance with chrome in 8gB? Is the ram shared with the GPU?
RobMurray6 hours ago
about power usage: sure there exists a light bulb such that this draws less power, but the vast majority of light bulbs are far less than 15W. Also the mac mini sips power when idle at only 2-4W. This isn't a criticism of the product, only the marketing material.
The other thing is that moltbot/openclaw or what ever it's name is today is massively hyped AI slop that will be replaced by the next over hyped AI thing in a matter of weeks.
- superactro4 hours ago
  Fair point on the light bulb comparison - you're right that most household bulbs are well under 15W now with LEDs. I've updated the marketing to be more specific: 15W is comparable to a phone charger, which is more accurate.
  On the Mac Mini comparison: the M4 Mini is great hardware, but it idles at 2-4W because it's not doing anything. Once you're running Chrome + Whisper STT + an LLM simultaneously (which is what ClawBox does 24/7), you're looking at 30-60W on a Mini. The Jetson's GPU handles all three workloads concurrently at 15W because it was designed for exactly this kind of edge AI inference.
  Re: OpenClaw being "AI slop" - it's open source (https://github.com/openclaw/openclaw), MIT licensed, 78K+ Discord members. Been around for a while and actively maintained. But I get the skepticism - the AI hardware space is noisy. Happy to answer specific technical questions if you're curious about the actual architecture.
  - RobMurrayan hour ago
    I had a look and it does look like a great deal for the price. It would probably be good for running home assistant. If you marketed a version with HA preloaded you could beat the Nexus1 AI base station [0] to market.
    The thing Home Assistant needs, or any AI assistant like Openclaw, is an affordable smart speaker with a good microphone array and open firmware. I think there would be a good market for that combination, even with people who would be put off by the security and privacy concerns of Openclaw.