Car Thieves vs the Almost Final GlitterBomb 5.0

Mark Rober

AI-assisted summary of Car Thieves vs the Almost Final GlitterBomb 5.0 — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2022-12-16

Key ideas

Mark Rober unveils Glitter Bomb 5.0, upgraded with a 1-liter fart spray reservoir, custom PCB, and autonomous micro-drones designed to scatter glitter through thieves' homes. (3:03)
To combat San Francisco's average of 73 car smash-and-grabs per day, Rober pivoted from porch boxes to concealed backpack rigs triggered remotely via SMS. (8:58)
Footage revealed car prowlers break rear quarter-glass specifically to drop back seats and scout concealed trunks rather than taking visible bulky packages. (10:48)
Community shares of earlier glitter bomb videos led international law enforcement to raid and shut down three Indian scam call centers stealing over $60 million annually. (14:43)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by Mark Rober on December 16, 2022, this video showcases the fifth and nearly final iteration of his anti-theft glitter bomb series. In the description, Rober promotes his CrunchLabs Build Box subscription for the holidays and highlights a sponsor segment with T-Mobile, whose cellular network powered the bait packages.

## TL;DR Mark Rober chronicles five years of engineering anti-theft bait packages, culminating in Glitter Bomb 5.0 equipped with autonomous glitter-dispersing drones and a massive one-liter fart spray reservoir. Shifting focus to San Francisco's smash-and-grab epidemic, Rober designs specialized car-bait variants to retaliate against organized burglary crews who break rear quarter windows to scout vehicle trunks. After thieves initially ignore visible packages, the team repackages the payload into stealthy backpacks, successfully baiting active crews and remotely venting foul spray inside their getaway cars. The video concludes by reviewing the broader real-world impact of the project, including the shutdown of three international call-center operations, and promotes CrunchLabs engineering kits for kids.

## Atmosphere & style The presentation blends whimsical, festive holiday cheer with the meticulous precision of a high-stakes engineering lab. Rober's delivery is charismatic, upbeat, and playfully vindictive, adopting a classic 'Home Alone' energy that frames complex technical iteration as playful retribution. Tense stakeout footage gives way to explosive, comedic pandemonium as hidden cameras capture the bewildered, foul-smelling chaos unfolding inside thieves' cars and homes.

## Bulletin - [03:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=183s) Mark Rober unveils Glitter Bomb 5.0, upgraded with a 1-liter fart spray reservoir, custom PCB, and autonomous micro-drones designed to scatter glitter through thieves' homes. - [08:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=538s) To combat San Francisco's average of 73 car smash-and-grabs per day, Rober pivoted from porch boxes to concealed backpack rigs triggered remotely via SMS. - [10:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=648s) Footage revealed car prowlers break rear quarter-glass specifically to drop back seats and scout concealed trunks rather than taking visible bulky packages. - [14:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=883s) Community shares of earlier glitter bomb videos led international law enforcement to raid and shut down three Indian scam call centers stealing over $60 million annually.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=0s) The Glitter Bomb project originated five years prior after police declined to investigate a stolen $6 package despite having video evidence. - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=0s) Glitter Bomb versions evolved incrementally, progressing from simple centrifugal glitter cups to pneumatic boxing gloves, sticky glue handles, and pop-out lid blockers. - [03:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=183s) Version 5.0 expanded the fart spray capacity by fiftyfold to a full 1-liter tank driven by a high-pressure peristaltic pump. - [03:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=183s) Porch variants of version 5.0 integrated firmware-hacked autonomous drones equipped with proximity sensors to evade capture and distribute glitter indoors. - [06:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=368s) High-speed cellular data connectivity ensured all multi-angle video footage uploaded directly to the cloud, preserving evidence even when thieves destroyed the hardware. - [08:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=538s) San Francisco averages roughly 73 car break-ins daily, driven by organized rings targeting tech items while discarding personal documents with zero resale value. - [10:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=648s) Car burglars break rear quarter windows primarily to fold down the back seats to inspect the trunk, rendering hidden trunk luggage vulnerable. - [12:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=765s) Burglars utilize concealed ceramic shards or hardened steel points to silently and effortlessly shatter tempered vehicle glass with minimal force. - [12:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=765s) Adapting to street behavior required repackaging the system into ordinary backpacks using flexible scent pouches and eliminating internal cameras. - [14:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=883s) Remote SMS activation of 'Operation Air Freshener' forced vehicle thieves to discard the foul-smelling backpacks within 20 to 90 seconds. - [14:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=883s) Viral attention from previous bait operations spurred international law enforcement raids that dismantled three persistent call centers netting $60 million yearly.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=0s) The Origins and Evolution of the Glitter Bomb

The journey began five years earlier when two thieves stole a simple $6 package off Mark Rober's porch. After police refused to take action despite being handed video evidence, Rober decided to harness his engineering skills to retaliate. Mark recalls that “to avenge the theft, I was gonna have to use my engineering skills to go full 'Home Alone.'” What started as a personal quest ended up setting off a nationwide saga that exposed countless porch pirates and eventually contributed to the takedown of a $60 million international scam ring.

Over the years, the bait package underwent continuous engineering overhauls: - **Version 1.0:** Featured a spinning cup dispersing one pound of fine glitter, four hidden smartphones to record and upload video, and a single canister of fart spray designed to prompt the thief to ditch the package for retrieval. - **Version 2.0:** Doubled the fart spray payload, refined the scent formula (which famously left guest collaborator Macaulay Culkin coughing and gagging), switched exclusively to biodegradable glitter, and introduced a fake countdown timer paired with simulated police radio chatter. - **Version 3.0:** Upgraded to four canisters of fart spray, added a grab handle coated in ultra-sticky mousetrap glue, flashing police lights, and conductive charging pins hidden in an engineered doormat to keep the box powered indefinitely. To defeat thieves who quickly replaced the lid to cover the lenses, mechanical posts popped out passively once the lid was lifted, permanently preventing the box from closing. - **Version 4.0:** Fitted pneumatic pistons capped with boxing gloves to launch the lid straight up the moment it was touched. It also introduced an onboard car horn, a redesigned multi-chamber centrifugal cup offering three sequential glitter blasts, and a motorized, sliding faux planter box that automatically concealed packages overnight to restrict thefts to optimal daylight hours.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Glitter Bomb Evolution accDescr: Evolution of the Glitter Bomb design across five iterations from 1.0 to 5.0.

subgraph Early["Early Iterations"] V1["V1.0: 1 lb glitter cup, 4 phones, 1 fart spray"] V2["V2.0: 2x fart spray, Macaulay Culkin test, police chatter"] V1 --> V2 end

subgraph Intermediate["Defensive Additions"] V3["V3.0: 4 spray cans, glue handle, pop-out lid blockers, charging mat"] V4["V4.0: Pneumatic boxing gloves, 3-stage cup, car horn, sliding planter"] V2 --> V3 V3 --> V4 end

subgraph Final["Final Milestone"] V5["V5.0: 1L reservoir, peristaltic pump, autonomous drones, 360 car rig"] V4 --> V5 end ```

[03:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=183s) Engineering Glitter Bomb 5.0 and the Car Bait Sister Box

For the fifth and final iteration, Glitter Bomb 5.0, Rober went all out despite acknowledging the classic engineering risk: “In engineering, if something is working well enough, conventional wisdom states you should basically change nothing but pretend like you changed a lot.” Rather than relying on small aerosol cans totaling 20 milliliters, the new design incorporated a massive one-liter reservoir—50 times more fart spray than the previous year. A continuous peristaltic pump forced the liquid through two high-pressure nozzles. When tested with an air-particulate sensor inside an enclosed chamber, the previous version registered 250 particulate units per liter, while version 5.0 topped out at 750, delivering an aroma three times as potent that degraded room air quality at a rate of one liter per minute.

To accommodate the larger fluid tank, the chassis was widened, creating room for a custom printed circuit board (PCB) that managed power, system triggers, and synchronized data transmission across four smartphones running on T-Mobile's high-speed network. The centerpiece of the porch version was a fleet of hacked, autonomous mini-drones. Rewritten firmware allowed the drones to wake up and take flight as soon as trapdoors dropped when the box was opened. Equipped with proximity sensors, the drones actively dodged incoming hands and meandered through rooms, showering fine glitter throughout the thief's living quarters.

Because the San Francisco Bay Area is known as the smash-and-grab capital of the world, Rober also built a specialized sister unit tailored for car break-ins. Because letting drones loose inside a moving getaway vehicle posed major safety hazards, the vehicle variant omitted drones. Instead, it was engineered to trigger remotely via SMS, venting the high-potency fart spray without needing the box to open. Moments before the spray engaged, a motorized 360-degree camera elevated out of the chassis to record the perpetrators, featuring an automated retraction system reminiscent of luxury car hood ornaments that retracted the camera into the armored shell if physical tampering was detected.

[06:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=368s) Deployments, Dumps, and Family Dynamics

After roughly ten months of design and lab testing, the traps were planted on neighborhood porches and inside parked cars. The first car deployment was quickly targeted by thieves who shattered the vehicle glass, grabbed the package, and brought it to a residence. As the thieves examined what they believed was a valuable retail item, the box suddenly activated its car alarm, flashed strobes, ran through its countdown sequence, and fired the persistent fart spray nozzles. Realizing the device was an inescapable sensory nightmare, the thieves solved the issue by dumping the spraying box into their neighbor's yard.

Another box was snatched from a porch and transported home by a couple who hesitated to bring it indoors right away. In recorded audio, the woman noted that their neighbor had security cameras, cautiously telling her partner, “Can we just leave it in the car for now?” and insisting, “I'm not saying that I did anything wrong.” They eventually brought the box inside, where their kids immediately presumed the contents were an expensive virtual reality headset worth around $400. One child urged, “Keep it. Keep it. They can get another one,” while debating whether to keep or return it. Once they pried the lid open, the device triggered its piercing alarm and unleashed the foul stench. Pandemonium broke out as one child yelled, “They were lying!” followed by panicked cries of “Mom, I think it is a bomb,” prompting the mother to scream to get it out of the house. Though the thieves ultimately destroyed the physical box and tore out the phones, the footage survived thanks to rapid cloud backup over cellular data.

To track long-term integrity trends alongside porch traps, Rober also left bait packages near communal neighborhood mailboxes. This enabled the team to monitor how many good Samaritans would voluntarily call the contact number listed on the parcel versus those who simply walked away with it, including instances where adults handed the bait directly to their children as an impromptu gift.

[08:58](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=538s) Foiled Porch Pirates and the San Francisco Car Epidemic

The glitter bomb trap continues to catch porch thieves off guard as the system counts down, triggering an ear-piercing siren and color bars. Inside a house, the sudden chaos sends a thief running into a panic, yelling out to family, “Mom! I think it's a scam! It's a (beep) scam. I knew it.” A woman wonders aloud what the device could possibly be, prompting the exasperated thief to realize who was behind it: “Yeah, (beep) this is a YouTuber. They do this to scam people.” Once the automated computer voice announces that activation is complete and the recovery sequence has been initiated, Mark Rober shifts focus to an entirely different arena of theft: car break-ins.

San Francisco has earned an infamous reputation as the car-breaking capital of the world, averaging roughly 73 smash-and-grabs every day. Things have gotten so extreme that residents have resorted to leaving their car doors wide open, practically inviting prowlers to see for themselves that no valuables are inside just to spare their windows from being smashed. While Rober had experimented with bait cars over the previous two years, thieves never opened the boxes inside the vehicles; the team had to settle for triggering a simple alarm so the crooks would chuck them out of the moving car. Research revealed that car burglaries operate within organized fencing rings. Crews canvas neighborhoods in teams and promptly deliver their haul to a middleman who pays cash for high-value tech like laptops. The heartbreaking consequence is that personal, irreplaceable items—passports, photographs, plane tickets—hold zero resale value for fences and simply get tossed straight into city dumpsters.

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: San Francisco Fencing Operation Workflow accDescr: Diagram tracing stolen goods from car break-ins to cash fencing and trash disposal. subgraph S1["Street Level"] A["Bait / Target Vehicles"] -->|"Break-in crew smashes glass"| B["Thieves Steal Items"] end subgraph S2["Distribution"] B -->|"Immediate drop-off"| C["Fencing Middleman"] C -->|"Cash payout"| D["Laptops & High-Value Electronics"] C -->|"Zero resale value"| E["Passports, Photos & Documents Dumped"] end ```

[10:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=648s) Adapting to Thief Behavior and the Trunk Trap

Armed with the knowledge that thieves never unpack boxes inside the car, Rober modified the bait hardware. The fart spray nozzles were repositioned to poke straight through the box lid, allowing deployment even if the package remained sealed on the floorboards or back seat. Once the bottom proximity sensor fired, the box texted the team, allowing them to track the car via GPS and remotely send a command to raise the internal camera and vent concentrated foul odor for two solid minutes. Setting up their first stakeout with the box clearly visible inside a parked car, the team watched three separate vehicles—first a black car, then a beige car, and finally a white car—pull alongside. Each time, a scout hopped out, examined the box through the window, and walked away without touching it.

Rober reasoned that the bulky footprint of the original box looked too suspicious. The team gutted the internal components and condensed them into a significantly smaller package that maintained all the same functionality. Returning to the streets the next day, a thief finally smashed the window, yet drove away without taking the parcel. Reviewing the interior camera footage revealed an eye-opening revelation: the burglar never wanted the box in the first place. Instead, breaking the small rear quarter glass was solely done to reach inside, drop the rear seatback down, and scout the hidden trunk compartment. Rober emphasizes this crucial takeaway:

> “The reason they break these little windows so often but it seems like nothing is missing is because they're pulling down the seat to quickly check what's hidden from view in the trunk.”

- San Francisco averages roughly 73 car break-ins per day. - Leaving luggage hidden out of sight in a vehicle trunk does not protect it, as thieves break the rear quarter-glass specifically to drop the rear seats and peer inside. - High-value electronics are rapidly fenced for cash, while irreplaceable personal items like passports and family photos are routinely thrown into the trash.

[12:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=765s) The Backpack Redesign and Double Hit

Faced with savvy thieves who recognized that shiny bait boxes meant trouble, Rober leaned into the core principle of engineering: “And as an engineer, I never claim to have all the answers, but I know the process to get to all the answers, and that's trying and failing and tweaking over and over again.” To counter their tactics, the team abandoned boxes entirely and engineered a micro version packed inside a typical backpack. The tight form factor required major trade-offs: the camera had to be eliminated, and the fart spray reservoir was reduced to a custom flexible pouch. To verify potency, they bench-tested the spray on an outdoor chair; days later, the chair still reeked so badly it was uninhabitable.

```mermaid flowchart LR accTitle: Glitter Bomb Evolution for Car Thieves accDescr: Evolution of bait packaging from large car boxes to concealed backpacks. subgraph Iteration["Design Iterations"] A["Original Large Box\n(Spotted and ignored)"] --> B["Compact Box\n(Ignored; seats dropped)"] B --> C["Backpack Stealth Rig\n(No camera, pouch reservoir)"] end subgraph Result["Street Deployment"] C --> D["Target Hits in 5 Minutes"] D --> E["Remote Deployment via SMS"] end ```

The team deployed two bait cars, each with a backpack sitting inside, parked in separate locations across San Francisco. Within roughly five minutes of each other, both cars were hit. Comparing video footage from the earlier stakeout revealed that one of the culprits wore the exact same jacket, proving that organized crews run regular routes and actively hunt for unfamiliar visiting vehicles. The surveillance captured how effortlessly tempered car glass gives way when struck by a punch: while the thief appeared to casually push a gloved fist through the pane, the glove concealed a tiny ceramic shard or hardened steel point designed to concentrate force and shatter the glass safely and instantly.

- Tempered car windows resist blunt trauma but shatter instantly when struck by a concentrated point of hardened steel or ceramic. - Car burglary crews patrol predictable loops, making out-of-state and rental vehicles easy targets. - Miniaturizing the trap into a backpack meant sacrificing live interior video and replacing the rigid spray bottle with an improvised pouch.

[14:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=883s) Operation Air Freshener and Real-World Impact

Both stolen backpacks checked in via cellular signal, pinging their live GPS coordinates as the thieves drove around city streets, hitting additional cars along their path. One brazen crew was recorded bragging in their getaway car about an earlier score, boasting, “They had two big (beep) suitcases, and they let me steal their stuff.” After tracking both getaways for roughly ten minutes, Rober's team sent the remote SMS trigger to initiate “Operation Air Freshener.” In the first vehicle, the internal microphone was nestled right next to the electric pump inside the small housing, muffling the voices. However, roughly 90 seconds after the continuous spray began, the thieves could no longer stand the rancid stench, frantically located the bag by smell, and hurled it out the car window onto the pavement.

In the second vehicle, the reaction was captured with clearer audio. The thieves began inspecting their prize, remarking, “This is a weird (beeps) backpack,” before the chemical smell filled the cabin. Confusion turned to outright panic as they yelled, “What the (beeps) is that?” and “Look at it. I dunno what to do,” before tossing the offending bag out into the street just twenty seconds later.

Wrapping up five years of the glitter bomb project, Rober reflects on the broader trends: porch thefts have steadily dropped year over year while instances of Good Samaritans rescuing boxes have risen. Beyond deterring neighborhood thieves, community engagement produced massive real-world justice against organized cybercrime:

> “One thing that's not conjecture, however, is after so many of you actively shared our video where we infiltrated and glitter-bombed those three terrible scam call centers in India, it got the attention of some international law enforcement agencies, and from the press and because of your efforts, those three centers that had each been in operation for more than a decade, doing upwards of $20 million a year, scamming the most vulnerable amongst us of their life savings, all got shut down, with their top officials arrested.”

To help inspire the next generation of problem-solvers, Rober points viewers toward his monthly CrunchLabs Build Box subscription, where kids and families build mechanical projects like linkage-driven art machines and trip-wire pranks while learning the foundational physics behind how they work.

[18:12](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=1092s) Holiday CrunchLabs Promotion

Wrapping up the video, Mark Rober directs viewers to take advantage of a limited-time holiday promotion for his engineering subscription service, CrunchLabs. He encourages the audience to check out the details provided below the video to claim the deal, concluding the pitch by saying, “or use the link in the video description, where we're giving it away two months free as a holiday special.” The video then concludes with the signature CrunchLabs logo chime.

## Notable quotes > [12:45](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg&t=765s) as an engineer, I never claim to have all the answers, but I know the process to get to all the answers, and that's trying and failing and tweaking over and over again. — Mark Rober

## Mentioned Mark Rober, Macaulay Culkin, Mike Katz, CrunchLabs, T-Mobile, Verizon, AT&T, Glitter Bomb 5.0, Home Alone, San Francisco

## Video description Merry Christmas ya filthy animals. Get your CrunchLabs Build Box for Christmas!- https://crunchlabs.com

Shoutout to my friends at T-Mobile for sponsoring a portion of this video and hooking up all the boxes on their network. I met with their CMO Mike Katz here at CrunchLabs and I did an actual test of their network coverage compared to Verizon and AT&T and you can see that video here: https://bit.ly/5gtmobile

I started a company called CrunchLabs where we build a toy together and then I teach you all the juicy physics for how it works. So if you want to learn to think like an engineer and have really fun time doing it, check out the current promotion where you get 2 FREE boxes at https://crunchlabs.com

You should also go subscribe to the CrunchLabs YouTube channel cause we’ve got some bangers in the pipeline- https://www.youtube.com/crunchlabs

Thanks to these folks for providing some of the music in the video:

Ponder - https://youtube.com/@Pondermusic Laura Shigihara - @supershigi Andrew Applepie - https://soundcloud.com/andrewapplepie Blue Wednesday - https://soundcloud.com/bluewednesday

NO PURCHASE NECESSARY. Promotion starts on 1/1/2023 & ends on 12/31/23, subject to monthly entry deadlines. Open to legal residents of the 50 U.S. & D.C., 18+. 1 prize per month: each month is its own separate promotion. For the first 2-3 months, winner may be notified via phone call instead of winning game piece. If a monthly prize is unclaimed/forfeited, it will be awarded via 2nd chance drawing. See Official Rules at crunchlabs.com/sweepstakes for full details on eligibility requirements, how to enter, free method of entry, prize claim procedure, prize description and limitations. Void where prohibited.

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iWeu2dxHRDg)

中文简报

汽车窃贼对决准终极版闪粉炸弹5.0 Mark Rober记录了历时五年研发防盗诱饵包裹的历程，最终打造出配备自主散播闪粉微型无人机及1升大容量臭屁喷雾储罐的闪粉炸弹5.0。针对旧金山频发的砸车盗窃问题，Rober专门设计了车载诱饵装置，以反击那些打破后角窗窥探车后备箱的有组织盗窃团伙。在窃贼最初忽视显眼包裹后，团队将装置改装进隐蔽的双肩包中，成功诱使作案团伙上钩，并远程在其逃跑车辆内喷射恶臭气体。视频最后回顾了该项目在现实中产生的更广泛影响，包括协助关停三个国际诈骗呼叫中心，并推广了面向儿童的CrunchLabs工程套件。 Mark Rober推出闪粉炸弹5.0，升级配备了1升容量的臭屁喷雾储罐、定制电路板，以及旨在向窃贼家中散播闪粉的自主微型无人机。 (3:03) 为应对旧金山日均73起汽车砸窗盗窃案，Rober将设计从门廊包裹转向可通过短信远程触发的隐蔽双肩包装置。 (8:58) 监控画面显示，砸车盗贼会特意打碎后角窗玻璃以放倒后排座椅搜寻隐蔽后备箱，而不会直接拿走显眼的大包裹。 (10:48) 社区对早期闪粉炸弹视频的分享，促使国际执法部门突袭并关停了三个每年盗窃超6000万美元的印度诈骗呼叫中心。 (14:43)

Source quotes

[12:45] Mark Rober: as an engineer, I never claim to have all the answers, but I know the process to get to all the answers, and that's trying and failing and tweaking over and over again.

Original transcript

[0:00] (glass shatters) [0:01] - This guy is stealing my package from a car, [0:02] and this guy took my package off a porch, [0:05] but what they don't realize [0:06] is this is the final glitter bomb, Glitter Bomb 5.0. [0:10] And for the final year, when you lift the lid, [0:12] the glitter is delivered by drones. [0:16] (drones whirring) [0:17] (drones clattering) [0:20] Five years ago, when these two stole a $6 package [0:23] from my porch, little did they know that singular act [0:25] on an otherwise unremarkable lovely spring morning [0:28] would set in motion a series of events [0:30] that would unleash buckets of glitter in the homes [0:32] of would-be porch pirates nationwide [0:34] and eventually lead to the takedown [0:36] of a $60 million international crime ring. [0:39] So today, not only will I show you what happens [0:41] when you combine autonomous drones and glitter, [0:43] and then what happens when you get into a chess match [0:46] with a bunch of car thieves, but I'll end the whole series [0:48] with an update on what happened [0:50] to those massive scam call centers we infiltrated [0:53] and exposed in India. [0:54] Now, if you're new here, the 10-second recap [0:56] is that after that package was stolen from my house, [0:59] the police wouldn't do anything about it [1:00] even when presented with the evidence. [1:02] So at that point, I knew that to avenge the theft, [1:05] I was gonna have to use my engineering skills [1:07] to go full "Home Alone." [1:09] - Ow! [1:11] - Yes! [1:12] - [Mark] And seeing how this is the final [1:13] glitter bomb video, I think it's worth a brief recap [1:15] of how the box design has naturally evolved over the years. [1:18] Out of the gate in year one, it was a simple concept, [1:21] where when you took the lid off the bait package, [1:22] this cup would spin, [1:24] unleashing a pound of the world's finest glitter, [1:26] and then hidden inside to record all the action, [1:28] we had four phones, plus a canister fart spray, [1:31] in an effort to encourage the thief [1:33] to get rid of the box, so we could go and retrieve it. [1:35] And that went pretty well. [1:36] So we spent the entire next year working on version 2.0, [1:39] where we doubled the amount of fart spray [1:41] and drastically improved the formula, [1:43] which ended up nearly killing Macaulay Culkin. [1:45] (Macaulay coughs) [1:47] - Oh, I still smell it. [1:48] (Macaulay coughs) [1:49] God. [1:50] - [Mark] We also switched to biodegradable glitter [1:51] and added a meaningless countdown- [1:53] - [Computer] Five, four. [1:54] - [Mark] And some fake police chatter- [1:55] - [Police] Seems the package may be in motion as well. [1:57] just to make things more exciting. [1:59] Then, for year three, [2:00] we doubled the fart spray canisters once again [2:02] to a total of four and added a handle [2:04] the thief would be tempted to grab, [2:06] which we covered in that super sticky mousetrap goop. [2:09] And for the previous two years, [2:10] the package thieves would often shove the lid back on [2:12] right away, which covered up the cameras. [2:14] So we added these posts near the top of the box [2:17] that would passively pop out, [2:18] which made it impossible to put the lid back on [2:21] once you'd removed it. [2:22] - [Computer] 14, 13. [2:24] - [Mark] We also added flashing police lights [2:25] and made a doormat [2:26] that had these conductive charging contacts [2:28] so we could keep the whole box fully charged [2:30] until the moment it was stolen. [2:32] Then for Glitter Bomb 4.0, as soon as you touched the lid, [2:34] it would get shot straight up into the air, [2:37] complements of these two boxing gloves [2:38] attached to pneumatic pistons. [2:40] We also added an actual car horn [2:42] (horn beeping) to make things more exciting [2:43] and redesigned the cup [2:44] so that by using the centrifugal force [2:46] generated from spinning, [2:47] you could passively get three chances to shoot some glitter [2:50] instead of losing it all in one single shot. [2:52] Then for the porch, we built a fake planter box [2:54] that would slide over and hide the package at night [2:57] so the homeowners wouldn't have to worry [2:58] about bringing it in. [2:59] And we were guaranteed to get it stolen in the day [3:01] when the light was better. [3:03] And all of that brings us to year five, Glitter Bomb 5.0. [3:08] I knew this was gonna be the last year, [3:09] so I decided to go for broke [3:11] and attempt the biggest redesign to date. [3:14] And this is a terrible idea, by the way. [3:16] In engineering, if something is working well enough, [3:18] conventional wisdom states [3:19] you should basically change nothing [3:21] but pretend like you changed a lot. [3:24] So for starters, last year, we had four vials of fart spray [3:26] for a total of 20 milliliters, [3:28] and for this year, because we're not messing around, [3:30] we have a one-liter tank. [3:32] And for those of you keeping track at home, [3:33] that's 50 times more fart spray. [3:35] To pull this off, instead of using a rotating-cam system [3:38] like before, now, we have a peristaltic pump [3:40] that continually forces the fart spray through two nozzles [3:43] and basically never lets up. [3:45] And because I can't exactly explain [3:46] how much worse something smells over video- [3:48] - Aww! [3:49] - [Mark] ...this is a sensor that measures the number [3:51] of particulates in the air, and the more particulates, [3:54] the more intense the smell. [3:55] And if we place last year's glitter bomb in the chamber, [3:57] it measures 250 particulates of nastiness per liter, [4:00] whereas this year's tops out at 750, [4:04] which means it's not only gonna last a lot longer, [4:05] but it's gonna be three times more intense. [4:08] Now, to house that massive reservoir of fart spray, [4:10] we had to expand the footprint for the box, [4:12] which means we add room underneath it [4:14] to house the brains of the system [4:15] on an upgraded custom printed circuit board [4:17] that communicates directly with all four phones. [4:20] And quick shout-out to my friends at T-Mobile, [4:21] 'cause last year, we found they had the best coverage [4:23] where we were placing the boxes. [4:24] So this year, they hooked us up, [4:26] and let us put them all on their network. [4:27] Then for the glitter delivery mechanism, [4:29] the idea was to hack some of these mini drones [4:31] and rewrite their code to make them autonomous, [4:33] where they could fly themselves [4:35] without needing to be in communication with the computer. [4:37] So the idea for this year [4:38] is the thief would bring the bait package [4:40] back to their house, then remove the lid, [4:42] which would lower these two doors, [4:44] allowing the drones to wake up and take off. [4:47] And so instead of a single concentrated area of glitter [4:49] from a spinning cup like before, [4:51] the drones would just meander all around the house, [4:53] leaving millions of tiny shimmering reminders [4:55] not to take stuff that isn't yours. [4:58] And as part of our code rewrite, [4:59] if the proximity sensors register someone approaching, [5:01] they'll just casually fly themselves [5:03] to a different part of the room. [5:04] And all of that perfectly sets up the checkmate, [5:07] because while they're fully distracted [5:08] dealing with the drones, [5:09] the box starts to drastically change the room's air quality [5:12] at a rate of one liter per minute. [5:15] This design was ambitious [5:17] and arguably at a much higher risk of failure in the field, [5:20] but then we took it one step further [5:21] by designing a sister box [5:23] that could be used for a car break-in. [5:24] Since I live near San Francisco, [5:26] which is the smash-and-grab capital of the world, [5:28] two years ago, we went right into the lion's den, [5:30] which placed the box in a somewhat alarming predicament. [5:34] - [Thief] I could bang it. I could bang... [5:35] (alarm blaring) [5:37] (color lines beeping) [5:39] - [Mark] And while tempting, it seemed irresponsible [5:41] to have a couple drones flying around [5:42] inside a moving vehicle, [5:43] so this box could be triggered remotely via text message [5:45] and can activate the fart spray without needing to be open. [5:49] And then right before the nozzles kick in, [5:51] this 360 cam pops up to cover all the action. [5:53] And if at any point the camera senses [5:55] it's being tampered with, [5:56] just like one of those fancy hood ornaments, [5:58] it will retract itself back inside the box. [6:00] So after about 10 months of designing, building, [6:03] and testing, we set them out on a bunch of porches [6:05] and in a bunch of cars, and we waited. [6:08] And we didn't have to wait long. [6:11] (glass smashes) [6:12] (upbeat music) [6:20] - [Thief] Brand new in the box, bro. [6:23] - [Man] It's your guys's now! [6:24] - [Thief] Huh? [6:25] Check it out. I guess it's mine now. [6:26] - [Man] Yeah. (laughs) [6:28] - [Thief] Guess this (beep) is nice, homie! [6:31] - [Man] I forgot I was gonna ask him what happened, [6:33] but they just pulled out a gun? [6:34] - [Thief] Yeah, they said I pulled out a... [6:36] (box beeping) [6:40] (alarm blaring) [6:46] I don't think we can... [6:50] (machine whirs) [6:56] - [Computer] 15, 14, 13. [6:59] Three, two, one. [7:01] (alarm blaring) [7:03] Activation complete. [7:04] Recovery sequence initiated. [7:07] (police radio chattering) [7:10] - [Mark] And I really appreciate the hustle from these guys, [7:13] especially because when all is said and done, [7:17] they just decided to make this their neighbor's problem. [7:21] (color lines beep) [7:22] When we retrieve this next box, as you can see, [7:23] it was completely destroyed, and the phones were gone. [7:26] But thanks to those blazing T-Mobile network speeds, [7:28] we're able to recover the following footage from the cloud. [7:31] - [Woman] But our neighbor here... [7:33] Put it down a little. [7:34] Our neighbor here, he has a camera. [7:36] That's what I was gonna give you for Christmas last year. [7:39] (woman laughs) - Yeah. [7:40] No way. - What? [7:41] The new one, huh? [7:42] - [Man] Yeah, it's the new version. [7:43] - [Woman] Can we just leave it in the car for now? [7:45] - [Man] Yeah, we'll leave it in the car for now. [7:46] - [Woman] 'Cause we're not trying to- [7:48] - [Man] Bring attention to us. [7:49] - [Woman] I'm not saying that I did anything wrong. [7:50] - [Mark] So they eventually took this home [7:52] and were apparently pretty upfront with their kids [7:54] about where they got it from. [7:56] (kid gasps) [7:57] - [Kid] It's a VR. That's really what it is. [8:00] It has the handles and everything. [8:01] - [Kid] So they go for like 400 bucks? [8:03] - [Kid] Keep it. Keep it. They can get another one. [8:06] - [Kid] Yeah, you can make money, or you can give it back. [8:09] - [Kid] I kinda wanna open it. [8:12] Do you wanna open it? [8:14] - [Kid] Let's open it. [8:16] (alarm blaring) - Oh my God. It smells! [8:20] - [Kid] They were (beeps) lying! [8:22] - [Kid] Mom! [8:25] Mom, I think it is a bomb. [8:26] - [Both] Mom! [8:28] - [Woman] Get it out of there! [8:29] (camera clattering) [8:32] (color lines beep) [8:33] - [Mark] And in addition to porches, [8:34] just like in years past, [8:35] we placed some boxes by group mailboxes, so that way, [8:38] we can track the number of good Samaritans [8:40] that will call the number on the box from year to year. [8:42] - [Kid] It's for me? [8:43] - [Woman] It's for you. [8:45] - [Kid] Yay! [8:46] - [Woman] Yah, yah. (sighs) [8:47] (alarm blaring) [8:52] (machine whirring) [8:58] - [Computer] 15, 14, 13, 12... [9:02] (color lines beep) [9:03] (alarm blaring) [9:05] - Mom! I think it's a scam! [9:07] It's a (beep) scam. I knew it. [9:11] - Scary. - It's a (beep) scam! [9:13] (beep) you, YouTubers. [9:15] (machine whirring) [9:28] - [Woman] What do you think this is? [9:31] - [Kid] Yeah, (beep) this is a YouTuber. [9:33] They do this to scam people. [9:34] - [Computer] 15, 14, 13, 12, 11, 10, [9:40] nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one. [9:49] Activation complete. Recovery sequence initiated. [9:53] (color lines beep) [9:54] - [Mark] Switching gears for a minute, [9:56] for the past two years, [9:57] I've experimented with placing a glitter bomb [9:58] in a parked car up in San Francisco [9:59] because it's considered the car-breaking capital [10:01] of the world, and things are so bad now, [10:03] it's not even just the parked cars [10:05] that are getting targeted. [10:06] They average 73 car break-ins per day, and at this point, [10:09] people have resorted to just leaving their doors wide open, [10:12] hoping the thieves can verify for themselves [10:14] that there's no valuables inside, [10:15] so they won't smash the glass just to check. [10:17] And for the past two years, [10:18] while we did get the glitter bombs stolen, [10:20] all we could really do [10:20] was just play an alarm sound so they throw them out- [10:23] - [Thief] Hell naw! [10:25] - ...'cause they never actually open them in the car. [10:26] And after doing some research, [10:27] it turns out there's a reason for that. [10:29] It's actually a fairly organized system [10:31] called a fencing operation, [10:32] where the cards will go out in groups, [10:33] and then immediately afterwards, [10:34] they'll bring it to a middleman who will pay cash [10:37] in exchange for the most valuable things they steal [10:39] like laptops. [10:40] But the gut punch is that important documents [10:42] like a passport or pictures or plane tickets [10:44] don't really hold value for the thieves, [10:46] so they just get thrown in the trash. [10:48] And now that we knew they didn't plan on opening the box [10:50] in the car, we designed the nozzles to poke through the lid, [10:52] so that even if they just threw it in the back seat, [10:55] once the proximity sensor on the bottom registered [10:57] it was stolen and the box texted us, [10:59] we could track them using the embedded GPS, [11:01] and a simple text message back would raise the camera [11:03] and activate the fart spray for two minutes straight. [11:05] So we headed up to the city [11:06] and placed our modified car box nice and visible in the car [11:10] and commenced our stakeout. [11:11] And you can see this first black car rolls up, [11:13] and this guy gets out and spots it but doesn't take it. [11:16] And then a little while later, this beige car rolls up, [11:18] and he sees it, too, and the same thing happens. [11:21] Then not too long after that, this white car rolls up, [11:24] and once again, they clearly see the box, [11:26] but they just leave it sitting right there [11:28] without even breaking a window. [11:29] And after observing all this, our best guess was [11:32] that it was the size of the box that was spooking them. [11:34] So we removed the heart [11:35] and all the other critical components from the large box [11:37] and placed them into a smaller box. [11:39] And while it occupied a smaller footprint, [11:41] it maintained all the same functionality of the bigger box, [11:44] while still looking like an enticing item to steal. [11:46] So the next day, we put it back out on the street, [11:50] but this time, someone came by [11:52] and actually smashed the window, [11:55] only we didn't see them leave with the box. [11:58] And our working assumption [11:59] was that he just wasn't able to open the door to take it, [12:02] but when we checked the footage, it told a different story. [12:12] Not only did he once again intentionally [12:14] not steal a smaller box, [12:15] but the real reason for breaking the small window [12:17] was to pull the backseat down and check the trunk, [12:20] which means if you take nothing else away from this video, [12:22] you should know putting your luggage in the trunk [12:24] is not a solution to keep it from getting stolen. [12:26] The reason they break these little windows so often [12:28] but it seems like nothing is missing [12:29] is because they're pulling down the seat [12:31] to quickly check what's hidden from view in the trunk. [12:33] And at this point, it was pretty disappointing, [12:35] but we realized they'd adapted. [12:37] Word must have gotten out from stealing our glitter bombs [12:40] in previous years that a juicy-looking box like this [12:42] sitting out in plain sight is nothing but trouble. [12:45] (alarm blaring) [12:45] And as an engineer, I never claim to have all the answers, [12:48] but I know the process to get to all the answers, [12:50] and that's trying and failing [12:52] and tweaking over and over again. [12:54] So while we did have a couple useless car boxes [12:56] and a busted window, we also knew their MO, [12:58] which meant we now had a plan, [13:00] and that plan was to shrink the box down even further [13:03] to fit it into a backpack. [13:04] That did mean we had to make some compromises [13:06] like losing the camera and reducing the fart spray reservoir [13:08] down to this improvised pouch. [13:10] But to make sure that it was still adequate, [13:12] we sprayed it on this chair, [13:13] and not only did it still last for two minutes, [13:16] but we left that chair outside to air out [13:18] and confirmed a few days later [13:20] it was still in real bad shape. [13:21] So with renewed hopes, we once again hit the street, [13:23] this time with two backpacks in two separate cars [13:26] parked in two different spots, and as fate would have it, [13:28] they both got hit within about five minutes of each other. [13:33] (glass shatters) [13:38] (glass shatters) [13:41] Once again, you can see they're checking the trunk. [13:55] And there's two interesting things to point out here. [13:56] Number one, if you look at the jacket on this guy [13:59] and compare it to the jacket from the previous break-in, [14:01] you can see it's the same guy, [14:03] suggesting they probably work the same routes, [14:04] which means they probably recognize regularly parked cars [14:07] versus a new visiting car. [14:09] So I felt especially honored [14:10] that a trained professional like this fell for our backpack, [14:12] even if it was possibly in a desperate attempt [14:14] just to find a belt. [14:15] And number two, you can see just how quickly it all happens, [14:18] even breaking the glass. [14:19] The thing with tempered glass is it's really hard to break [14:22] until it isn't. [14:23] And while this guy looks like Iron Man here, [14:25] just casually pushing his hand through, [14:27] what you don't see on his palm embedded in the glove [14:30] is a sharp ceramic chunk or a spike of hardened steel, [14:33] sort of like this. [14:34] And as you can see here, if you have the right tool [14:36] to concentrate the force on a really small point, [14:38] (glass shatters) [14:39] it safely crumbles to nothing almost instantly. [14:42] But more importantly than all that, [14:43] now we had both boxes registering they'd been stolen, [14:46] while we tracked them both on their embedded GPS, [14:49] watching as they made their way around, [14:50] stopping periodically to hit more cars. [14:53] - [Thief] We could go around, [14:54] or you could get in this car right now. [14:56] - [Thief] All y'all seeing that Nissan? [14:58] - [Thief] Go go go. Go go go go. [15:02] - [Thief] I thought that was gonna be the one, no catch. [15:05] They had two big (beep) suitcases, [15:07] and they let me steal their stuff. [15:08] - [Mark] And after they each drove around [15:09] for about 10 minutes, we sent a command [15:12] to commence Operation Air Freshener. [15:14] (spray whirring) [15:20] And unfortunately, because we had to condense everything [15:23] down so small sort of last minute, [15:25] the mic was in the same small box as the pump. [15:27] So we don't know exactly what was said, [15:29] but what we do know is that about 90 seconds [15:32] after the pump started, [15:36] they tossed the whole bag from the car. [15:39] And the best part about this is that outside the backpack, [15:42] the pump and spray are actually really quiet, [15:44] so the only possible way [15:46] they could have located the source [15:47] is if they sniffed their way to the answer. [15:49] And as our test showed, [15:51] they'll continue sniffing it for weeks. [15:52] (color lines beeping) [15:53] And in the second car, it was a nearly identical outcome. [15:57] - [Thief] This is a weird (beeps) backpack. [15:59] I'm not doing it if it's a purse 'cause God put that to me. [16:02] - [Mark] Only in this case, [16:04] because the pump ran a little quieter at one point, [16:06] we got to hear them close in on the source. [16:08] - [Thief] What the (beeps) is that? [16:10] - What is that? - I dunno. [16:11] - What is that? Look at it. [16:12] I dunno what to do. [16:13] - [Mark] And about 20 seconds later, their backpack [16:15] (camera clatters) [16:18] met the exact same fate as the first. [16:21] (color lines beep) [16:22] All right, so to wrap up, I'll just say that year over year, [16:24] we've seen a decreasing number of package steals [16:26] and a steadily increasing number of Good Samaritans. [16:29] And maybe people are becoming more considerate [16:31] or perhaps everyone just knows [16:32] what a glitter bomb looks like now, [16:34] but I love the idea that at some point, [16:35] someone's package wasn't stolen [16:37] because a would-be porch pirate remembered these videos [16:39] and had second thoughts. [16:41] One thing that's not conjecture, however, [16:44] is after so many of you actively shared our video [16:46] where we infiltrated and glitter-bombed [16:48] those three terrible scam call centers in India, [16:50] it got the attention [16:51] of some international law enforcement agencies, [16:53] and from the press and because of your efforts, [16:56] those three centers that had each been in operation [16:58] for more than a decade, doing upwards of $20 million a year, [17:02] scamming the most vulnerable amongst us [17:04] of their life savings, all got shut down, [17:06] with their top officials arrested. [17:08] So thanks to all of you for watching and caring, [17:11] and of course, thanks to these two, because without them, [17:14] none of this would've ever happened. [17:17] Being an engineer is the best, [17:18] because you can make whatever you can dream up. [17:23] But what's the first step? [17:25] How do you get started down that path? [17:28] Well, I'll tell you exactly how. [17:30] It's called the CrunchLabs Build Box, [17:32] and it gets delivered right to your doorstep every month, [17:35] and then we build it together, [17:36] while I teach you all the juicy physics that make it work. [17:39] It's basically like unlocking your own personal [17:41] Mark Rober video every month [17:43] where you learn a new engineering principle [17:44] that will have you not just building like an engineer, [17:47] but more importantly, thinking like an engineer. [17:49] So you're developing resiliency and problem-solving skills. [17:52] - Yes! [17:53] - [Mark] On top of that, the toys themselves are really fun, [17:55] like this super dope art machine [17:57] where we learn about linkages, [17:59] or in the spirit of the glitter bomb, this trip wire, [18:01] which you can use to prank your family, [18:03] or I suppose, in some cases, yourself. [18:06] So if you wanna embark on this yearlong journey with me, [18:08] while there's still time to get it before Christmas, [18:10] just head on over to crunchlabs.com [18:12] or use the link in the video description, [18:14] where we're giving it away two months free [18:16] as a holiday special. [18:18] (logo chimes)