2 layers49.4 × 95.7 mm
2 layers89 × 89.7 mm
Ultimate Useless Box
jaxfry/Ultimate-Useless-BoxThe Ultimate Useless Box, a box that does nothing, with style! Heavily inspired by LuuMa EV3, I wanted my own useless box, until I realized that Lego's Mindstorm is prohibitively expensive. I decided to make my own using standard electronics components with a few unique twists of my own :)
- Size
- 89 × 89.7 mm
- Copper layers
- 2
- Thickness
- 1.6 mm
- Parts
- 51
- Nets
- 69
- Pads
- 232
- Tracks, vias
- 726, 99
- Pours
- 2
- Routed
- Yes
- KiCad
- KiCad 9.0 (file 20241229)
- Created
- 5 Mar 2026
- Updated
- 6 May 2026
Overview
Ultimate Useless Box is an open-source printed circuit board by jaxfry, from the jaxfry/Ultimate-Useless-Box repository on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board of 89 × 89.7 mm with 51 parts on 69 nets, routed with 726 tracks and 99 vias.
It is built around the ESP32-S3-DEVKITC-1-N8, DRV8833PWP and MT3608, with the TP4056-42-ESOP8, S8050 and VL53L0X among its other parts. Its parts include 17 resistors, 12 capacitors, 4 ICs, 3 diodes and 2 connectors. It belongs with the ESP32 boards of this library.
Main components
6
ESP32-S3-DEVKITC-1-N8
-- WiFi Modules ROHSEspressif SystemsWiFi Modules
DRV8833PWP
ETSSOP-16-EP-40℃~+85℃ 1.5A 2 2.7V~10.8V 2.7V~10.8V 360mΩ Bipolar Driver Overcurrent Protection、Short-Circuit Protection、Over temperature protection、Under-voltage lockout、Dead-time / shoot-through protection Yes ETSSOP-16-EP Stepper Motor Driver ROHSTexas InstrumentsStepper Motor Driver
MT3608
SOT-23-6-40℃~+85℃ 1 1.2MHz 100uA、1.6mA 2A 2V~24V Adjustable Boost Boost Built-in No SOT-23-6 DC-DC Converters ROHS西安航天民芯DC-DC Converters
TP4056-42-ESOP8
ESOP-8-40℃~+85℃ 1 1A 2uA 4.2V 4V~8V Charging IC Lithium Battery Support ESOP-8 Battery Management ROHSTOPPOWERBattery Management
S8050
SOT-23-55℃~+150℃ 1 NPN 100MHz 100nA 120 25V 300mW 500mA 5V 600mV NPN SOT-23 Bipolar (BJT) ROHShongjiachengBipolar (BJT)
VL53L0X
LGA-12LGA-12 New Arrivals ROHSSTMicroelectronicsUncategorised
README
README.md[blocked]
Ultimate Useless Box
The Ultimate Useless Box, a box that does nothing, with style.
View Renders
·
View PCB
Table of Contents
About The Project
While most useless boxes just flip a switch, this one has personality. Powered by an ESP32-S3, this box uses a Time-of-Flight sensor to detect your hand before you even push the swtich, allowing the box to react by driving away, with the OLED screen, or countless other ways! This project is heavily inspired by LuuMa EV3. When I saw that video many years ago, I realized I wanted my own useless box. Then I realized that Lego Mindstorm kits are prohibitively expensive. Many years later and I decided to make my own using standard electronic components with a few unique twists of my own :)
Key Features:
- OLED Display for animated faces.
- Fun Built in Power Management: Mainly for learning and fun but we charge over usb-C!
- Wheels for driving away.
- TOF sensor for detecting hands.
- A Retractable Switch
Built With
Custom PCB
Gallery & Renders
Project Goals
- Build a reliable useless box with some personality
- Use accessible parts and open files
- Learn more about PCB design
How to build
It should be pretty easy, the PCB has labeled connectors for what you need to plug in where. Basically, plug the servos into the headers labeled servos, the motors into the ports labeled motor right and motor left, the TOF sensor into TOF and switch into Switch, and you should be good to go.
Parts
51| Qty | Value | Footprint | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | 10k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R5, R6, R10, R11 |
| 3 | 100nF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C7, C8, C9 |
| 3 | 10uF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C4, C5, C10 |
| 2 | 100k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R7, R8 |
| 2 | 100uF | Capacitor_THT:CP_Radial_D8.0mm_P3.50mm | C1, C6 |
| 2 | 1k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R9, R12 |
| 2 | 22uF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C11, C12 |
| 2 | 330 | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R3, R4 |
| 2 | 4.7k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R1, R2 |
| 2 | 5.1k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R16, R17 |
| 1 | 1.2k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R13 |
| 1 | 10nF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C2 |
| 1 | 110k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R14 |
| 1 | 15k | Resistor_SMD:R_0805_2012Metric | R15 |
| 1 | 1N4148 | Diode_SMD:D_SOD-323 | D1 |
| 1 | 2.2uF | Capacitor_SMD:C_0805_2012Metric | C3 |
| 1 | 4.7uH | Inductor_SMD:L_Taiyo-Yuden_NR-40xx | L1 |
| 1 | Buzzer | Buzzer_Beeper:Buzzer_12x9.5RM7.6 | BZ1 |
| 1 | Conn_01x02_Pin | Connector_JST:JST_PH_B2B-PH-K_1x02_P2.00mm_Vertical | J_BATT1 |
| 1 | Conn_01x10_Pin | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x10_P2.54mm_Vertical | J3 |
| 1 | D | Diode_SMD:D_SMA | D3 |
| 1 | DRV8833PWP | Package_SO:HTSSOP-16-1EP_4.4x5mm_P0.65mm_EP3.4x5mm_Mask2.46x2.31mm_ThermalVias | U2 |
| 1 | ESP32-S3-DevKitC | PCM_Espressif:ESP32-S3-DevKitC | U1 |
| 1 | Finger_Servo | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x03_P2.54mm_Vertical | J_SERVO1 |
| 1 | LED | LED_THT:LED_D5.0mm | D2 |
| 1 | MT3608 | Package_TO_SOT_SMD:SOT-23-6 | U4 |
| 1 | Motor_Left | Connector_JST:JST_PH_B2B-PH-K_1x02_P2.00mm_Vertical | J_MOT_L1 |
| 1 | Motor_Right | Connector_JST:JST_PH_B2B-PH-K_1x02_P2.00mm_Vertical | J_MOT_R1 |
| 1 | OLED Screen | Connector_JST:JST_PH_B4B-PH-K_1x04_P2.00mm_Vertical | J_OLED1 |
| 1 | S8050 | Package_TO_SOT_SMD:SOT-23 | Q1 |
| 1 | Switch_Servo | Connector_PinHeader_2.54mm:PinHeader_1x03_P2.54mm_Vertical | J_SERVO2 |
| 1 | TP4056-42-ESOP8 | Package_SO:SOIC-8-1EP_3.9x4.9mm_P1.27mm_EP2.41x3.3mm_ThermalVias | U3 |
| 1 | Toggle Switch | Connector_JST:JST_PH_B2B-PH-K_1x02_P2.00mm_Vertical | J_SWITCH1 |
| 1 | USB_C_Receptacle_USB2.0_16P | Connector_USB:USB_C_Receptacle_HRO_TYPE-C-31-M-12 | J1 |
| 1 | VL53L0X | Connector_JST:JST_PH_B6B-PH-K_1x06_P2.00mm_Vertical | J_TOF1 |
The 49 most common of 51 parts.
Questions
How big is the Ultimate Useless Box PCB?
It measures 89 × 89.7 mm and has 2 copper layers, 1.6 mm thick.
What parts does the Ultimate Useless Box use?
51 parts, built around the ESP32-S3-DEVKITC-1-N8, DRV8833PWP, MT3608 and TP4056-42-ESOP8. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.
Where can I download the Ultimate Useless Box KiCad files?
From the jaxfry/Ultimate-Useless-Box repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is pcb/kicad/Ultimate Useless Box.kicad_pcb and its schematic pcb/kicad/Ultimate Useless Box.kicad_sch. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.
Can I use the Ultimate Useless Box design in my own project?
Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask jaxfry before reusing the design.
Similar boards
- 2 layers72 × 143.4 mm
Tasta mea
AndreiasM5/IVA_DECK
Custom ESP32 macro keyboard with a KiCad PCB, nine mechanical keys, three audio controls, a PyQt6 desktop app, and a Random Forest behavioral-recognition experiment.
32 parts1 - 2 layers100 × 80 mm
Terrascout
partofcosmos-site/terrascout-grounded
TerraScout: Autonomous planetary exploration rover with stereo vision, rocker-bogie chassis CAD, and obstacle-avoidance firmware.
33 parts - 2 layers100 × 82.3 mm
Imu rc car
DimitriOnLSD/imu-rc
Gesture-based RC car controller using ESP32-S3, BLE, LSM6DSO IMU, OLED display, and LiPo battery with USB-C charging.
37 parts7MIT - 2 layers82 × 60 mm
- 2 layers77.3 × 55.5 mm
- 2 layers102.4 × 102.4 mm
- 2 layers62.8 × 62.8 mm
Swarm robot project
Khoi281248/Swarm_Robot_Hardware
Mach swarm robot (KiCad 10): STM32F103 + ESP32-C3, DRV8833, ICM-42670-P
87 partsMIT