Thwart Porch Pirates with This Raspberry Pi-Powered Delivery Box

Porch pirates — the thieves that steal delivered packages from doorsteps around the world — are an increasing problem. It is hard to estimate the total damage done, but they absolutely contribute to an increase in the cost of goods purchased online. And, in most places, victims have little recourse, as police tend to have bigger fish to fry. One solution is a secure box where delivery personnel can leave packages until the recipient can retrieve them. There are turnkey solutions available, but you can also replicate Woodycal’s project and build your own Pico Secure Delivery Box to thwart porch pirates.

Stealing packages from doorsteps is a crime of opportunity — though it certainly can be more organized. Grabbing a small box from someone’s porch is quick, easy, and doesn’t carry a lot of risk. The purpose of a delivery box like this is to add enough inconvenience that any potential packages inside aren’t worth the pirate’s effort. A delivery box could be made fairly secure, but that isn’t really necessary, as even a minor deterrent is enough to keep most thieves walking until they find an easier target.

Woodycal’s delivery box is a large wooden crate with a hinged lid on top. It has three modes: armed, disarmed, and drop-off. In the disarmed mode, the box opens freely. In armed mode, electronic locks engage to prevent the lid from opening, and built-in sensors will sound an alarm if they detect tampering. In drop-off mode, the box is ready for a delivery. The delivery person can open the box and has three minutes to put the package inside and close the lid, after which the box enters into armed mode.

The box operates under the control of a Raspberry Pi Pico W or Pico W2. It monitors the sensors, which include a vibration sensor and BME280 temperature, pressure, and humidity sensor. It also controls the locks via relay modules and the siren. Power comes from a 12V battery or, optionally, a 12V power supply.

Woodycal chose to design the box for “W” (WiFi) model Pico development boards in order to enable a local web interface for setting modes. As a nice bonus, that interface includes weather information gathered by the BME280 sensor.

It is unfortunate that such a thing is even necessary. But if porch pirates are a problem in your neighborhood, you can avoid a lot of headaches by building your own delivery box based on Woodycal’s design.