DMCA Takedown Notices for Porch Piracy. Also Banana Tattoos.

Inspiration

Online shopping is growing around the world - but so is porch piracy! Expensive packages left outside homes are an attractive target for thieves; there's almost no risk of being caught and a high payout. Doorbell cameras don't do much to stop this and only give you a glimpse of a thief you can never catch. Package lockers are bulky and rely on the delivery driver's cooperation. What's a homeowner to do?

What it does

Our project is a small, affordable, and surprisingly effective deterrent to package thieves. It consists of a scale that is capable of detecting whenever a package is placed onto it. After a brief calibration period, it is able to sense when someone attempts to pick the package up, and triggers an alarm system. This alarm system provides the main sources of chaos for the attempted thief. It has three main functions contributing to the chaos. The strobe lights help to both blind and startle the individual, as well as alert others in the area that something is amiss. We also utilize a high-pitched alarm, both helping again to alert others in the area, as well as to add some more sensory overload for the individual. The last component is a defensive device, aiming to target the potential thief and drive them away from the package before they can get control of it.

How we built it

We jerry-rigged the hell out of some wifi-connected microcontrollers, some old fire alarms, a crufted car window motor. Also the power of human innovation and creativity.

Challenges we ran into

There weren't enough bananas for our liking, and that caused a deal of internal turmoil.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

This is a really fun project that is actually useful, so that's a pretty big win. Also, we made a banana tattooer, which is pretty cool.

What we learned

that we can tattoo bananas and that its surprisingly entertaining

What's next for DMCA Takedown Notice for Porch Piracy

patent obtainment and production, leading to our eventual capabilities of filling in the empty slots in the black market left by the deterred porch package thieves.