Brian Rashap
Published

You Got Mail

Based on Gmailbox by Brent Rubell, this 3D printed mailbox raises its Flag whenever email arrives in my cnm. edu outlook account.

IntermediateFull instructions provided6 hours299
You Got Mail

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Argon
Particle Argon
×1
SG90 Micro-servo motor
SG90 Micro-servo motor
×1

Software apps and online services

Particle Workbench Extension for VSCode
Adafruit.io
Zapier

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Formlab Form3

Story

Read more

Custom parts and enclosures

Fusion 360 design for mailbox

Mailbox Front

Mailbox Flag

Mailbox Body

Schematics

Schematic

Breadboard

Code

YouGotMail.ino

C/C++
/*
 * Project YouGotMail
 * Description: Raise a Flag on 3D printed mailbox whenever new mail arrives in Outlook account
 * Author: Brian Rashap
 * Date: 11-NOV-2020
 */

#include <Adafruit_MQTT.h>

#include "Adafruit_MQTT/Adafruit_MQTT.h" 
#include "Adafruit_MQTT/Adafruit_MQTT_SPARK.h" 
#include "Adafruit_MQTT/Adafruit_MQTT.h" 

#include "credentials.h"

/************ Global State (you don't need to change this!) ***   ***************/ 
TCPClient TheClient; 

// Setup the MQTT client class by passing in the WiFi client and MQTT server and login details. 
Adafruit_MQTT_SPARK mqtt(&TheClient,AIO_SERVER,AIO_SERVERPORT,AIO_USERNAME,AIO_KEY); 

/****************************** Feeds ***************************************/ 
// Setup Feeds to publish or subscribe 
// Notice MQTT paths for AIO follow the form: <username>/feeds/<feedname> 
Adafruit_MQTT_Subscribe gotmail = Adafruit_MQTT_Subscribe(&mqtt, AIO_USERNAME "/feeds/gmail"); 

/************Servo Object************/
Servo flagServo;

/************Declare Variables*************/
unsigned long last;
unsigned long lastTime;

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  delay(100); //wait for Serial Monitor to startup


  flagServo.attach(A3);
  flagServo.write(0);
  // Setup MQTT subscription for gmail feed.
  mqtt.subscribe(&gotmail);
  pinMode(D7, OUTPUT);
  Serial.printf("Ready to Get Mail \n");
}

void loop() {
  MQTT_connect();

  if ((millis()-last)>120000) {
      Serial.printf("Pinging MQTT \n");
      if(! mqtt.ping()) {
        Serial.printf("Disconnecting \n");
        mqtt.disconnect();
      }
      last = millis();
  }
 
  Adafruit_MQTT_Subscribe *subscription;
  while ((subscription = mqtt.readSubscription(10000))) {
    if (subscription == &gotmail) {
      Serial.printf("You Got Mail \n");
      digitalWrite(D7, HIGH);
      flagServo.write(90);
      delay(20000);
      digitalWrite(D7, LOW);
      flagServo.write(5);
      delay(5000);
      digitalWrite(D7, HIGH);
      flagServo.write(90);
      delay(3000);
      digitalWrite(D7, LOW);
      flagServo.write(5);
    }
  }
}

// Function to connect and reconnect as necessary to the MQTT server.
// Should be called in the loop function and it will take care if connecting.
void MQTT_connect() {
  int8_t ret;
 
  // Stop if already connected.
  if (mqtt.connected()) {
    return;
  }
 
  Serial.print("Connecting to MQTT... ");
 
  while ((ret = mqtt.connect()) != 0) { // connect will return 0 for connected
       Serial.println(mqtt.connectErrorString(ret));
       Serial.println("Retrying MQTT connection in 5 seconds...");
       mqtt.disconnect();
       delay(5000);  // wait 5 seconds
  }
  Serial.println("MQTT Connected!");
}

Credits

Brian Rashap

Brian Rashap

12 projects • 93 followers
Former General Manager of US Facilities Operations at Intel Corporation. Currently loving my encore career as a teacher focused on IoT.

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