async-love

An open DIY alternative to the LoveBox. Send cute messages to a simple box, without distracting anyone with notifications.

How it works

• Connect the device to a wifi network
• It fetches a message from a gist
• The translucid heart on the box is lit in a breathing fashion by a red led.
• Open the box and read the message! The LED will turn off.

Installation

You have two options. One uses github's gists and the other one uses a custom made firebase/react application.

Option 1

Create a file named credentials.h in the include/ folder.

Add these lines:

const char *mySSID = "<SSID (Wifi name)>";
const char *myPassword = "<Wifi Password>";

// url to gist: /yourUsername/generatedHashValue/raw/yourFilename
const char *myGist = "<GIST URL>";

Then, go write something in the gist and the box should get display the message.

Option 2

Deploy the lovebox app that I made, available here. The instructions are in the README.

Use the lovebox-app branch:

git checkout lovebox-app

Create a file named credentials.h in the include/ folder.

Add these lines:

const char *mySSID = "<SSID (Wifi name)>";
const char *myPassword = "<Wifi Password>";

const char *boxName = "<NAME OF YOUR BOX>";

Thats it, you can now use the user-friendly front-end that you deployed.

Wiring

Parts list

I suggest buying all of them on aliexpress

• WeMos D1 Mini
• Ligh sensor (photoresistor)
• Red LED (or the color you want)
• OLED display (SSD1306 128x64)
• 10kΩ resistor
• 220Ω resistor

To build it you can use whatever you want, however I suggest using a perfboard.

Issues / Limitations

I suspect there is some kind of caching on the gists, so the message only updates in around 3 minutes after the intial message. This is problem is not present using the lovebox-app solution.

Contribution

The code is developed in C++ using the Arduino framework with PlatformIO on VSCode. Feel free to improve the code and add features! Possible new features list:

• Images
• Multiple LEDs for more colors or RGB LED
• A build guide

Acknowledgement

Thanks to @julisa99 for the Lovebox project she made. I was greatly inspired by this project.