Back to Parent

Outcome


Intention

A common and frequent homeowner problem is anticipating when mail will arrive. Taking inspiration from complaints about having to check mail unnecessarily, I realized there was an opportunity to create a solution that removes the guesswork if and when mail has been delivered. Mailmen arrive at different times everyday, creating confusion and additional effort for recipients to check for their mail. This solution provides a way for mail recipients to save the time spent checking their mailbox repetitively or unnecessarily before the mailman arrives.  

Goal

The goal is to create an IoT device to monitor mailbox activity. The smart mailbox removes the guesswork about when mail is delivered.

Process

You will need:

1 Breadboard

1 photoresistor

1 PIR sensor

10 – Jumper wires

1 – Red LED

1 – Green LED

2- 1kΩ Resistor

1 - 10kΩ Resistor

Circuits.thumb
Show Advanced Options
Mail circuitry setup.thumb
Show Advanced Options
Show Advanced Options

Outcome

When the motion sensor detects the mailbox opening between 6 am - 6pm, it will send a notification to the mail recipient notifying them of mail. The Red LED will turn on when motion is detected.  The Green LED becomes brighter at nightfall with the use of the photocell and only turns on if motion was detected between 6 am - 6pm. 
Show Advanced Options
Mail notification.thumb
Show Advanced Options

Reflection

There are many things in our everyday lives that still require human conscious effort. However, any of these daily tasks can be simplified by unloading decisions, work and guesswork onto IoT technology. By introducing aspects such as the photoreceptor, gives an opportunity to tweak notification delivery. For example, if recipients check mail at nighttime when arriving home from work, the user can glance at the photoreceptor LED (that is turned on if motion has been detected during the day time and if it is dark out). This provides a glanceablility and decreased effort from the user. If I could perform things differently, I would want to make this device self – sustainable and implementable.
Drop files here or click to select

You can upload files of up to 20MB using this form.