This DIY mailbox pretty much has it all. Not only is it waterproof and secure, it’s beautifully built and unlikely to arouse the suspicion of or induce fear in the mailman.
It’s made of 2mm thick sheet metal and features accents made of merri, a rather nice blood wood native to Western Australia. [George] of Make It Extreme built this mailbox primarily for remote control access, the idea being that each of his family members would have a key fob remote to open it. There’s an input panel under the lid in case someone loses or forgets their remote.
The setup is simple. That 12V solar panel under the address number is connected to a solar charge controller and charges a small battery. Pushing the A button on the key fob remote triggers the latch to slide over, unlocking the door. A push of the B button turns on an interior light for late-night mail collecting. The tube on the side is for leaflets and other postal miscellany. Now, the coolest feature: when mail passes through the slot, it lets [George] know by calling his cell phone. Check out the build/demo video after the break.
We’ve featured all kinds of mailboxen over the years. This wifi-enabled ‘box uses an Amazon Dash button and a Pi to play the AOL notification on the owner’s phone. The flag on this adorable mini mailbox goes up when there’s mail in the real one outside.
Thanks for the tip, [Michalis]!
Oh God Why?
So you can laugh when that punk kid with the baseball bat fractures their hand instead of your mailbox?
God, that is a sexy mailbox.
Very cool!
Wish I could cut steel and weld that way!
The answer to the “Oh god why?” as always:
Something often at first seems rediculous until it’s suddenly a common need.
Nice job, very well made, but still no human hand to grab the mail from the mailman and present it to the inhabitants without them having to go outside. Wanted one of those since the 60’s. Maybe with a bigger Arduino and some 3D prosthetics….
Wouldn’t that be a job for a vacuum tube like the department stores used? The mailbox could be the holder for the shuttle, when the door is closed the vacuum stars and brings the mail.
031120
That tube wouldn’t take much junk mail, and it looks like a urinal.
I dont’t think the box can make phone calls. At least i didn’t see any part which i know is capable of doing this