Raid Your Junk Drawer to Make an AI Assistant
Why buy new hardware when you can turn a pile of junk into a cool, retro-themed AI assistant that can control your smart home?
If you’ve ever overengineered an electronics project, you’ve probably heard the common refrain: “You should have used a 555.” While this may be a tongue-in-cheek saying in most cases, there is some truth in it. We have very powerful, cheap, and compact components available to us these days, so our first instinct is often to use a sledgehammer to crack a nut. We could get by using older, less powerful hardware with a little bit more creativity.
Consider the AI assistant recently built by YouTuber HANDMAX Workshop. It looks and works better than most similar hobbyist projects that you will see today. But this device doesn’t use the latest development boards, displays, and sensors. Instead, it is pieced together with the sort of hardware that we toss in a drawer and forget about for years. What a great way to save some cash and put that old equipment back in service!
At the core of the build is an aging smartphone — a Xiaomi Mi 8 that most would consider beyond its useful life. With a burned-in display, degraded speakers, and a failing battery, it hardly seems like an ideal candidate for a modern smart device. Yet its processor and software capabilities remain more than sufficient to run an AI assistant interface.
In addition to the phone, there is a defunct Bluetooth speaker and a once-impractical magnetic wireless charger. By stripping these devices down to their functional cores, the creator transforms them into a cohesive system. A TP4056 charging module and an 18650 lithium battery are added to stabilize power delivery, solving a persistent noise issue from the speaker’s amplifier and ensuring clean audio output.
Instead of a minimalist smart speaker aesthetic, the builder opted for a retro television design, complete with a front grille, physical control buttons, and decorative legs. Carefully modeled 3D-printed parts accommodate the phone’s sensors and camera while maintaining the illusion of a vintage device.
Unfortunately, working with old, broken hardware isn’t all sunshine and rainbows. When the Bluetooth module insisted on shutting down after 20 minutes of silence, the creator sidestepped firmware limitations by generating an inaudible 6 Hz tone. Though imperceptible to human ears, the signal keeps the system active indefinitely. Some physical controls were also worked into the new build — rocker switches on the back and a front-mounted knob mechanically linked to the amplifier’s power.
On the software side, the smartphone is reconfigured into a dedicated assistant. A custom launcher enforces landscape orientation, while Google Gemini handles conversational AI tasks. Integration with Google Home allows the device to control smart home accessories, and custom routines enable voice-triggered actions.
The finished product functions as a smart speaker, AI assistant, wireless charger, and desktop display — and it was all built from discarded parts. If you’d like to get more out of the hardware in your junk drawer, check out the video below for some inspiration.
R&D, creativity, and building the next big thing you never knew you wanted are my specialties.