12.1 Clutter Detector

Do you have a spouse, kids, or a partner who just can’t seem to keep an area free of clutter and debris no matter how often you think it gets cleaned up? Somehow that empty spot attracts newspapers, junk mail, empty boxes, crumpled clothing, packing material, and whatever else happens to be pseudomagnetized to that spot? If so, enlist the help of your newfound electronics experience by constructing a detector using an infrared distance sensor.[113]

Point the sensor at the empty space and measure the “clean area” reading. As clutter piles up, the distance detected by the sensor will be reduced. Have this trigger an email to your clutter-collecting cohabitants that they need to remove their clutter collection from the detection area. Be as aggressive as you want to on email notification frequency. And when the clutter has been removed, you can even send an email message from your home thanking the offender(s) for cleaning up the mess.