A Physical LIKE Button for YouTube Videos

When someone presses the LIKE button something extra happens. This is my physical LIKE light. It is 3D printed and linked to my YouTube channel videos. When someone clicks the LIKE button, it lights up and makes sound.

Wemos d1 mini (4M version)

• MrDIY store - https://store.mrdiy.ca/product/wemos-d1-mini
• Amazon/AliExpress - wemos-d1-mini-esp8...

Get my free Bin file (binary code to flash to the Wemos D1 mini)

• https://store.mrdiy.ca/p/my-like-light-bin

Get my 3d model

• https://gitlab.com/MrDIYca/code-samples/-/blob/master/like_light.stl

When you come across a YouTube video that you like or that interests you, you hit the like button. You press it and you move on… and nothing really happens. But for my channel, I made this. Each time someone gives me a thumb up, it comes to life.

It is rocking a small microcontroller, paired with a beeper and an LED light. It periodically connects to YouTube and gets the number of likes on my video. And if that number goes, it gets my attention with sound and light. And if I get a lot of new LIKES …. It lights up in BLUE.

I had fun designing this big 3D printed thumbs up. I started with the shape of the like button from YouTube. And over different iterations, I made small improvements, like the opening for the power cord to protect it, or the location of the LED to maximum the light distribution.

I wanted an easy way to tell it which YouTube video to monitor so I created this setup portal to configure it along with other couple of things. These were things like my WIFI username and password, the required YouTube API key and the video id. Now I easily change which video to monitor.

I took advantage of the LED to indicate different statuses. For example, when the device boots up, it shows a blue light letting me know it is initiating the device. When it successfully connects to the WIFI, it turns green letting me know it is live and monitoring the video. And for the very first setup, it flashes orange, letting me know that it is ready to be configured.

In terms of wiring, this is how I set it up. The LED is connected to D1 and ground. The beeper is connected to D2 and ground. I picked D2 because the pins align perfectly and I don’t need to use any wires. I then put everting together in the 3d printed thumb.

Each time someone likes my video I get a little show on my desk! This could also help increase the LIKE count during live stream.

If you found this useful, please consider subscribing to my YouTube channel and give me a LIKE.