Project 06  ·  TAC 348 · Connected Devices

Smart Box — IoT Sensor Platform

TAC 348  ·  Connected Devices  ·  University of Southern California

Particle IoT Blynk C++ / Arduino Sensor Integration OLED Display Cloud Dashboard Webhooks Initial State

Demo Video

Smart Box full functionality walkthrough — sensor readings, OLED display, Blynk dashboard, and cloud data pipeline.

Project Overview

The Smart Box is a two-module IoT smart mailbox notification system built around the Particle Photon 2 microcontroller platform. The system automatically detects when the mailbox door is opened and whether new mail has been deposited, then notifies the user in real time through visual indicators and digital dashboard updates — eliminating unnecessary trips to the mailbox and logging a complete history of every delivery event.

The sensor module, mounted inside the mailbox, uses three sensing modalities: a magnetic reed switch on the door edge to detect open/close events, an ultrasonic distance sensor to measure distance changes indicating mail presence, and a PIR passive infrared motion sensor as a redundant confirmation method. The sensor module is powered by a portable power bank and LiPo battery, and communicates over Particle Cloud via a mailbox_status publish event.

The desk notification module subscribes to sensor events and drives a 0.96" OLED display, an RGB LED, and a buzzer to alert the user when mail arrives. Firmware was written in C++ on Particle Device OS 6.3.4. Live data is forwarded via Particle webhooks to a Blynk mobile dashboard (door status, mail present, time in box, lifetime mail counter) and to Initial State for historical trend tracking and delivery analytics.

Platform

Particle Photon 2

Sensors

Magnetic Switch, Ultrasonic, PIR

Desk Module

OLED Display, RGB LED, Buzzer

Cloud

Blynk + Initial State

Language

C++ / Particle OS

Data Pipeline

Particle Webhooks → Cloud

Screenshots & Diagrams

Sensor Module Wiring Diagram
Sensor module wiring — magnetic switch, ultrasonic sensor, PIR, Particle Photon 2
Desk Module Wiring Diagram
Desk notification module wiring — OLED display, RGB LED, buzzer, button
Blynk Datastream Configuration
Blynk datastream configuration — virtual pins mapped to mailbox status outputs
Initial State Live Dashboard
Initial State dashboard — door events, mail delivery history, and distance data streams
Particle Webhook Integration
Particle webhook integration — event forwarding to cloud services

Source Code

C++ firmware written for the Particle Photon 2 platform. Two separate modules communicate via Particle Cloud publish/subscribe events.

Documentation

Smart Box — Developer Documentation

Full project documentation including wiring diagrams, firmware walkthrough, and dashboard setup

View PDF

Desk_Control_Module.cpp

Particle Photon 2 firmware — OLED display, Blynk integration, RGB LED, buzzer, telemetry publishing

Download .cpp

Sensor_Final.cpp

Sensor module firmware — ultrasonic, PIR motion, magnetic door switch, Particle Cloud publish

Download .cpp