Who wouldn't want to create a totally certified useless box? I certainly wanted one since I saw one in Fargo :)

Also, I created this as a sort of “Hello world” exercise with ESP32's.

See it in action:

You'll need:

• an ESP32
• the code hosted at [https://github.com/wiz78/UselessBox](https://github.com/wiz78/UselessBox)
• a 5mm LED
• a 220 Ohm resistor
• a mini SPDT lever switch
• a micro servo motor (I used a Miuzei MS18)
• some electrical wires
• 4 small M3 screws for the top lid
• 2 longer M3 screws for the ESP blocker and LED support
• M3 brass inserts
• a 2A USB power supply + micro USB cable

Some assembly hints:

• connect the LED between a GND and a GPIO pin (e.g. 16), using the resistor in between.
• connect the motor to another GND and a different GPIO (e.g. 18)
• connect the switch between a GND and GPIO pin (e.g. 12)
• those are the pins already defined in the code, which you can change of course
• the code can be tweaked to enable an http server to replace the firmware and also to enable other test endpoints. One is especially useful to calibrate the positions of the servo motor once assembled: ie. curl -o- -X POST [http://uselessbox.local/servo?pos=80](http://uselessbox.local/servo?pos=80) - you need to find the values to enter in the code for the resting position (arm under the lid), peeking position (arm partially elevated, opening the lid) and pushing position (enough to move the switch to its off position).