TreasureDev's LoRa Mail Boombox Is a 3D-Printed Mail Notifier and Multimedia Extravaganza

Pseudonymous maker "TreasureDev" has built a 3D-printed mailbox with more than a decorative purpose: it acts as a CircuitPython-powered notifier for when there's something to pick up in a real-life mailbox.

"[It's] a full scale LoRa Mailbox," TreasureDev explains of the project, brought to our attention by Adafruit. "It's a unique model redesigned from scratch but wanted to give Brent Rubell a nod for the idea. When the LoRa mailbox at the street is opened, it will notify the LoRa transceiver (paired node) in this mailbox."

The real-world mailbox to which the 3D-printed notifier is connected is fitted with an Adafruit VL53L4CD time-of-flight distance sensor board, which constantly measures to the end of box. When the door is opened, the distance changes — triggering a notification via a LoRa modem paired to the one in the notifier, that is in turn connected to a Feather RP2040 board.

The mailbox isn't just a mailbox, though, but a boombox, offering a multimedia experience when there's mail to be found. "It flashes a rainbow of light using NeoPixels," TreasureDev explains, "and plays a random MP3 to notify me (AOL's 'You've Got Mail,' for example.) Inside is also a Bluetooth Classic receiver plugged into a 20W amplifier so I can stream tunes from my phone."

Source code and 3D print files for the project have been published to GitHub under the permissive MIT license, with additional details available on Printables and in TreasureDev's Mastodon post.