What do you do when weekends start feeling the same? Order food, scroll endlessly, maybe step out for coffee? A software engineer in Bengaluru decided to do something far more dramatic; he built a device that “kidnaps” him whenever he feels bored.
No, not a real kidnapping. Just a smart button that sends him on a surprise Uber ride to a random place in the city. Outsource the weekend plan Pankaj, who works in tech, says he was tired of wasting his weekends doing nothing. So instead of making plans, cancelling them, or overthinking, he built a system that decides for him. He explained: I kept wasting my weekends doing nothing, so I built a button that kidnaps me. Whenever I’m bored, I press it, and it books an Uber to a random interesting place in my city. The goal was simple: remove indecision and force himself to explore. How the ‘kidnap button’ works The setup is a mix of basic hardware and custom software. It includes a physical digital push button connected to a Raspberry Pi (raspi) device, which runs a Python script. He said: It has a physical digital push button connected to my raspi, and some Python script. Behind the scenes, a small AI agent uses OpenStreetMap APIs and information about its interests to pick a destination. For now, there is no distance limit, meaning the ride could take him anywhere within the city. Once the location is selected, the system automatically books an Uber. One of the photos he shared shows the smiley-face button wired to a small motherboard. Another image captures the Uber app screen showing the message “Locating your driver” as the ride is arranged in real time. Also read: Watch six planets in the sky at once tonight, Mercury, Venus, other planets to line up together in a spectacular planetary parade
11 trips so far So far, Pankaj says he has pressed the button 11 times and hasn’t had a bad experience. “I’ve pressed it 11 times so far and never had a bad trip. Okay, bye, going to a 110-year-old wrestling pit in Shivajinagar, Bengaluru. I don’t know what to expect, but I’m excited.” That wrestling pit was just one of the unexpected destinations picked for him. Each trip pushes him to explore a new corner of the city he may not have chosen himself. Also read: OpenAI signs deal with the US Department of War as Trump blacklists ‘Anthropic AI’
More than just fun While the idea sounds playful, it also solves a common problem: decision fatigue. Many people struggle to decide what to do on free days and end up doing nothing. By letting code choose for him, Pankaj removes hesitation and excuses. When someone asked how the destinations are selected, he said, “Little AI agent, using OpenStreetMap APIs. It has access to my interests and no limit on distance for now.” Others suggested improvements. One user recommended using it for discovering food spots. Pankaj replied, “Nice idea, gonna add it to my agent.”
