I am toying with a project for sensing when the mail man/lady pulls his car up to my mailbox. This is basically on street side with no sidewalk. The aproximate distance from the mailbox post will be in the neighborhood of 4ft - 5ft(120cm - 150cm). A simple motion sensor will not work as I would get false signals when cars pass by at a slightly greater distance(6ft - 7ft or more). The sensor I found, whose data sheet is linked below has a range of up to 300cm is really far too expensive($52) but probable get the job done.
THE JOB
The detector senses that the mail car has arrived and triggers a geared motor
to extend the mailbox out. another sensor sensing that the mail box door has been opened, then closed(LDR or something like that) determines that the mail has been delivered and retracts the mailbox.
Living in the North-East there shoveling out snow in front of a mailbox can be a pain in the ars, I thought this could help me out since it is too painful given my medical issues.
one issue I see up front with this is that if the mail person in the mail car sees the mailbox so far away he/she might try to get closer, thus when the box extends a certain distance the box may hit the car. I would need more sensor capabilities to move the box to within a certain distance of the vehicle. It should also work at night.
Does anyone have any suggestion on the right detector for the job and at a lower price??
http://document.sharpsma.com/files/gp2y3a003k_e.pdf
THE JOB
The detector senses that the mail car has arrived and triggers a geared motor
to extend the mailbox out. another sensor sensing that the mail box door has been opened, then closed(LDR or something like that) determines that the mail has been delivered and retracts the mailbox.
Living in the North-East there shoveling out snow in front of a mailbox can be a pain in the ars, I thought this could help me out since it is too painful given my medical issues.
one issue I see up front with this is that if the mail person in the mail car sees the mailbox so far away he/she might try to get closer, thus when the box extends a certain distance the box may hit the car. I would need more sensor capabilities to move the box to within a certain distance of the vehicle. It should also work at night.
Does anyone have any suggestion on the right detector for the job and at a lower price??
http://document.sharpsma.com/files/gp2y3a003k_e.pdf