A new gadget that should catch out potential doorstep parcel thieves is looking for funds on Kickstarter. Package Guard is a Frisbee sized pad that sits on the doorstep with a note saying ‘Place parcel here’. If the parcel is picked up without disarming the device using an app, an alarm will go off. The company behind it says that it will “put porch pirates out of business”.

This amounts to being a parcel locker that can take packages of a much larger size, or could end up being used for drone deliveries that would drop the parcel on the Package Guard. The developer says that the device’s simplicity and the fact that it has few moving parts is an advantage, making it more reliable and easy to make.

“In the near future,” according to the inventor Michael Grabham, the Package Guard  “will also integrate with some of the major surveillance camera brands, so you can get a picture of the thief and share it with police or on Facebook to warn other neighbours”.

Grabham has started a fundraising page on the crowdfunding website kickstarter.com. As of the time of this article being written it has 244 backers and has raised $10,591 of the target of $45,000 with 24 days to go. The project will only go ahead if the full amount is raised or exceeded.

The Package Guard’s kickerstarter.com notice added: “We will be using the funds to create the molds for manufacturing and to complete the FCC certifications for the device. We also need to complete the packaging design. We have already had the IOS app designed but we are waiting to build that later in the year. (At no cost to any backers on Kickstarter). This could be a stretch goal for this campaign to build the app right away.

We have filed the provisional patent and will need some money, $5,500 -$7,500 to get the final patent completed by May. We have been talking to two manufacturers that we could be working with if we are successful here and depending on the amount of units that are pre-ordered.”