Screaming Mailbox

Have you ever had your mail stolen from you without any way of stopping it. Well with our project the “Screaming Mailbox” our goal is to protect your mail from any intruders trying to steal your mail. With its motion detection system when a button is not pressed, it will play out a blaring noise to warn you someone is opening your mailbox without your permission. The alarm system is able to be turned off by a small button which will automatically open your mailbox for you.

Arduino and 2 Breadboards

The Arduino Uno and breadboards run the logic for the device. They monitor the sensors’ inputs and control the sensors’ outputs. There are two breadboards for more space.

Button

The button controls the authorized opening of the mailbox.

Servo motor

Opens and closes door of mailbox

Ultrasonic Distance Sensor

Detects unauthorized opening of mailbox

Red and Green LED

The green LED indicates the box was opened correctly, the red LED indicates that it was not

1. Resistors 2x

Piezo Speaker

Sounds alarm if there is unauthorized open.

3D printed housing and door

Tape

Begin By Creating the Arduino board in TinkerCAD and following the code file provided below, code the screaming mailbox. The code has comments provided, so you understand what each process is doing. Using the picture above, construct the Arduino board using a servo motor, 1 button, two LEDs (one red and one green), a piezo speaker, and an ultraviolet sensor.

Connect 5V pin on Uno to positive rail of breadboard. Connect the top positive rail to the 2nd breadboard's positive rail. Do the same for ground wires. Plug in battery holder into board and insert batteries/

Plug sensor into 1st breadboard. GND --> ground rail, ECHO --> pin 6, TRIG --> pin 5, VCC --> positive rail.

Plug LEDS into a 2nd breadboard with 2 pins of distance between them. The short legs should be wired to the ground rail. The long legs of each LED should have a resistor bridging the breadboard gap. The other end of each resistor should have a wire. The red LED’s wire should go to pin 12, and the green’s wire should go to pin 13.

Plug speaker into 1st breadboard. Wire positive end of speaker to pin 4. Wire the negative side to the ground rail.

Place button on the 2nd breadboard so it bridges the gap of the board. Wire the right side to the ground rail, and the left side to pin 7.

Wire the positive connection (red) in the moto to the positive rail of the 2nd breadboard. Wire the negative connection (black) to the ground rail. Wire the white connection to pin 10.

This is a SolidWorks rendering of the mailbox housing as well as a “button extender” so the user can press the button with the board still enclosed inside the box.