This is a case for a useless machine made smarter with an ESP8266 microcontroller on a Wemos D1 Mini board and an APDS-9960 proximity sensor to give more funny responses.

Smart Useless Box in Action: https://youtu.be/x0kGetj1nt8

YAUB (Yet Another Useless Box)?

Useless machines are not new, there are many versions available. You can create a simple one using a lever switch, however that will react always the same way. Using a programmable microcontroller you can create funny, unexpected responses, and by adding a proximity sensor you can surprise the user with actions before she would even turn on the switch!

This is a programmable useless box, so you have the option to implement additional reactions when you want to further improve this funny little toy. What's more the used controller board has WiFi connectivity, so you can connect it to other online services (e.g. IFTTT) or smart assistants (Alexa, Cortana etc.).

How to Print This

Rotate the lid parts to print them upside down. That way you don't need supports and you can get nice surface finish.

You can safely print all parts with 0.2 mm layer height, without any supports.

How I Designed This

I used Fusion 360 to design all parts of this machine, and I continuously kept 3D printability in mind, so:

• no supports are needed to print the parts,
• 0.2 mm layer height is more than enough, so you can print fast, no additional details necessary,
• only M3 screws are required which are common for 3D printers.

Feel free to download the attached STEP files and customize this project for your needs!

Software and Electronics

The source code for the microcontroller and the schematics for the wiring is available here: https://github.com/balassy/useless-box

Feel free to fork this repo, improve it and submit pull requests!

Greetings from Hungary!