Published July 3, 2020 © CC BY-NC

Madness Machine

A small project with a single evil purpose, fooling people into checking their phones.

BeginnerFull instructions provided10 hours670

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Raspberry Pi Zero

Toggle Switch, Metal Lever

Adafruit Vibrating Mini Motor Disc

LiFePO4wered/Pi+

Wires

Plastic Enclosure, Project Box

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Soldering iron (generic)

Drill / Driver, Cordless

Story

Project Video

Box

We need something that can hold all our electronics, yet is simple to hide. A small electronics box from the local hardware store is the perfect candidate.

The only modifications needed are drilling a hole in the side, and removing one of the screw holders to make more space.

The changes needed really depend on your box, so as long as all the electronics fit, and you can attach the toggle switch(see next step) somehow, you're all good.

Hardware

With our box complete we can start adding some hardware. We start with attaching the toggle switch to the box, using our freshly drilled hole.

After doing some basic setup on the Raspberry Pi Zero and charging the LiFePO4wered/Pi+, we can assemble the two. They each have their specific role, the Pi Zero executes logic and the LiFePO4wered/Pi+ provides power.

Last but not least, we solder the toggle switch and vibration disc connections. Normally it's best to use jump wires, but we don't have enough space, so instead we directly attach them to the Pi.

Code

Now we move on to the code itself. It's written in python and included below. To give you a good idea of how it works, the main logic is as follows:

Check if the toggle switch is on

If so, turn on the vibration disc for two seconds, and wait a random amount of time (between 60 and 300 seconds)
If the switch is off, do nothing

With the code written and working, we can complete the build by mounting the top.

Result

With our irritating invention complete it's time for the final, and best step, causing mayhem!

Just toggle on the switch, hide the devious device and enjoy the ensuing spectacle.

Code

madness.py

import RPi.GPIO as GPIO  
import time  
import random

GPIO.setmode(GPIO.BCM)  

motorPin = 26
switchPin = 21

GPIO.setup(motorPin, GPIO.OUT) 
GPIO.setup(switchPin, GPIO.OUT) 

GPIO.output(motorPin, GPIO.LOW) 
GPIO.output(switchPin, GPIO.HIGH) 



while True:

    if GPIO.input(switchPin) == GPIO.HIGH:

        GPIO.output(motorPin, GPIO.HIGH)
        print('on')
        time.sleep(2)

        GPIO.output(motorPin, GPIO.LOW) 
        print('off')
        time.sleep(random.randint(60,300))

Madness Machine

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Project Video

Box

Hardware

Code

Result

Schematics

Wiring

Code

madness.py

Credits

Comments

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Madness Machine

Madness Machine

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Story

Project Video

Box

Hardware

Code

Result

Schematics

Wiring

Code

madness.py

Credits

Comments

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