Box Update

[Paddy]

It's not finished yet, it needs to be installed into the box properly and the wires trimmed to size.. more to follow at a later date

Are you sending it UPS Airfreight?

[DimPrawn]

....and I proposed whilst giving the gf one over a dustbin outside a Swindon disco.

That's romance!

[Alf W]

and what happens when the FBI, Secret Service, MI5/6, Spooks, various security services around the world happen to chance across that slideshow with their webcrawling snoop systems? They are probably on their way to CUK HQ with an armed response team of 'utter bastards' right now just for publishing the link.

Anyway, is your girlfriend up for such fun and games? If I had explained to my wife that there were hoops to jump through in order to get to her engagement ring I think I'd have heard the words "just give me the f**king key .. NOW!"

[MaryPoppins]

I didn't understand any of that. So I will focus on the human side of things:

Expected Result
She'll receive the box on Christmas day while we're at her parents, I assume it won't take her long to get the first GPS distance reading and after consulting with some friends and having a second reading from home I'm sure the idea of triangulation will come up given that most of her friends are teachers. A third reading most likely from work will confirm where the location is and assuming she hasn't used up the 50 tries showing her friends and asking WTF? she'll know that the destination is an island accessed by a ferry ride several hours away from home. It's far enough to ensure that it's a weekend away which guarantee's I'll be included in the plans and she wouldn't just drive to the location after work one day and open the box alone thus kind of ruining the main purpose of the box.

I'm guessing she won't know what this box signifies, so it will be a mystery box to her?

Is the bit in bold going to be received in good humour? Are you sure she won't be too impatient not to jump in her car and just go there on impulse (which is what I'd do).

Very exciting and really clever, what a brill story for the grandkids.

[cailin maith]

What's the ring like - sod the box

Honestly though - it's super sweet and I'm sure she will love it!

[Platypus]

Good stuff - keep us updated !

[MaryPoppins]

What's the ring like - sod the box

Honestly though - it's super sweet and I'm sure she will love it!

Zaccly, we haven't even seen a pic of the ring have we?

I would deffo go with Zeity's saw idea though.

[TimberWolf]

I would deffo go with Zeity's saw idea though.

Triangulation is so much more romantic

Nice one Chef.

[MaryPoppins]

Triangulation is so much more romantic

Nice one Chef.

Sounds too much like strangulation for my liking.

[chef]

So what have you got in place for when it won't unlock during testing due to a software bug? Is there a non-electronic override, or can you add one - something akin to how CD players have a tiny hole for pushing a wire in?

Very cool.

Testing plans
- As each component has been added the code has been tested.
- I have hard coded the destination as expected and it works as expected, locking the box
- I have hard coded the destination to within the tolerance distance and it works as expected (i.e box opens)
- I have got a list of gps co-ords and associated distances from various points I can goto and check if the distances match.
- The distances is gives to various GPS locations match the distances given to the exact same locations in Google Earth using the ruler function.
- I will set the tolerance to 1km and set the location to my work gps location (it's 2.5km away) and test again.
To date the servo is wired up but the actual locking arm (a metal chopstick shaped arm) is not connected to the servo.
- once I am confident the backdoor works and the servo works as expected I will add the arm and retest
- once the arm testing is complete I will add the 3 eyelet screws (semi loosely screwed in) that the arm threads through to lock the box

worst case scenario assuming the box doesnt unlock AND the backdoor fails I can force the box pulling out the eyelet screws

once fully working I will screw the screws in tight and trust my coding and testing