Mailbox Letter Sensor

Abstract

Many rural and transient communities rely on central mailbox services for their mail delivery. The location of the facility may present difficulty to patrons in checking their mailboxes regularly, and otherwise also result in a ‘wasted trip when there is no mail. This project builds a mailbox sensor which communicates to the owner of the mailbox when mail arrives. We reviewed the different patents and products that currently exist and found several problems with them such as being large in size, and with limited capabilities like lacking long distance communication. Our proposed solution to this problem is to design a compact device that can detect the presence of mail, communicate over long distances with the user and alert the user when the mailbox is tampered with by text or email. In addition, we give the option of using an app to receive the information faster and more conveniently. The app would give the option of live information, and other miscellaneous information such as how full the mailbox is and whether or not you have packages. The device will make use of a photo resistive or weight sensor, a microcontroller unit to process the information from the sensor and wirelessly communicate to a central server that will then alert the user through either email or text. This device will demand compaction and long-distance wireless communication in order to be viable.