Phone Time-Lock Box

Each year, school gets harder, and good studying habits become more and more important. One of the hardest parts of studying effectively is the ability to remain focused for a long period of time, and it doesn’t help that most of us usually have our phones–the biggest distraction of them all–right next to us. So, in order to cultivate a good studying environment, we decided to design and create a phone lock box. 

Students at New Trier High School designed this box, using Fusion 360, with careful consideration over what factors would best support this function. It has three buttons to set the timer, allowing you full control over how long you’ll study for, which physiologically, will make you more likely to commit to the task. After you’ve set the time, a locking mechanism secures the door to the box, effectively locking in the phone. Additionally, unlike some other lock boxes, our design completely covers the phone, so you won’t be able to see the screen, further reducing the temptation to get off task. Finally, if the battery dies, the user can use a paper clip to manually turn the servo motor. All things considered, this phone lock box, in theory, is to help the user improve their study effectiveness.

Consumable Needed: [editor note- must be specific once we have measurements]

• Arduino Nano
• Female-Female Jumper Wire
• LCD Screen
• Standard Servo Motor
• 3 Buttons
• 3d printer filament

Tools Needed:

• 3d printer
• Arduino programming device
• Micro-USB

Download these stl files of the phone box onto a device.

Upload the attached code to the Arduino Micro.

Place the LCD screen and the buttons in the slots and place the Arduino underneath. On the other side, hot glue the motor and battery pack so that one blade of the motor is through the slit.

Connect the electrical components following the picture above.

Hot glue the sides of the box so that the holes are covered.