Final Project

This project aims to make an infinity mirror, become more comfortable with the CLS Fablab tools and machinery, and apply all of the skills we learned in the EDM1 course. We will create the infinity mirror using 3D printing, soldering, laser cutting, writing in engineering, wiring, and coding. We are completing this project because it uses a wide variety of skills, many of which we have already learned and others that we will master, such as woodworking.

The inspiration for this project is from Techydiy YouTube. The infinity mirror I create differs from Techydiy's as my wooden frame is not painted.

NOV 8

On the first day of the final project, we watched Techydiy's YouTube video about the infinity mirror, created a "Final Project" page on our digital portfolios, determined how many days each project step would require, and created a daily plan in Notability.

NOV 9

To begin working on the infinity mirror, I first completed a warmup assignment about LED strips, also known as NeoPixles, and the Arduino WEMO in the computer programming web app, TinkerCAD.

Firstly, I created the system pictured to the left in TinkerCAD using an Arduino Uno R3, a power supply with 5 volts and 5 current, one NeoPixel strip, a 470 Ohms resistor, and wires connecting the power supply and NeoPixel strip through the red power wire, the power supply's ground to the ground pin of the Arduino Uno board and then the ground pad on the NeoPixel strip through the two black wires, and the -6 pin on the Arduino to the data pad on the NeoPixel strip through the green wires and intercepted by the resistor.

Next, I pasted the pictured potential code into the text-code box in TinkerCAD and clicked the 'Run Simulation' button to start the execution of the code.

I then obsereved the current on the power supply, or ammeter, increase as each NeoPixel lit up. This is because the amount of flow and conductivity traveling through the ammeter and wires increases as more components are added to the circuit system. Therefore, with the addition of each NeoPixel lighting up, the current of the ammeter subsequentially increases.

My TinkerCAD NeoPixel strip fully lit up

Woodworking

The physical creation of my infinity mirror was sparked by the making of the wooden frame. Before I could begin woodworking, I first took the necessary safety precautions, such as wearing noise-reducing headphones, eye-protective glasses, pulling my shirt sleeves above my elbows, removing any jewelry from my wrists, tying my hair back, and tucking the drawstrings of my sweatshirt inside its torso.

Wood before cutting

Wood cut into 30" with groove

With two group members, we sectioned off a large piece of wood into three 30" sections using a Stanley tape measure. Using an adjustable cutting guide to protect my hands and fingers, I slowly slid the wood across the saw stop and then pulled it back toward me once it had been fully cut through. Once I finished cutting the wood, I turned off the saw stop and removed the wood from the cutting table. I then used sliders to slide the wood across the table saw and create a 1/8" deep groove.

NOV 11

Today I took my wood and marked it into two 15" sections and then, using the same safety precautions as earlier, I cut the wood in half using the saw stop. Next, I used the sliders to create a smaller, 1/8" deep ridge on the wood with the saw stop.

NOV 14

Using callipers and a ruler I measured the length and width of my wood pieces as 15.0" x 2.4375" and 14.6875" x 2.4375".

NOV 18

In Corel draw, I designed two 6" x 6" squares using the box tool and copied and pasted the first box to create the second box. After ensuring my lines were set to hairline I then exported the two boxes as a .cdr file into the enjprog folder. I opened the file from the enjprog folder on a computer connected to the large Epilog Fusion laser cutter in Corel Draw and combined my file with two other people to maximize printing efficiency in the Fab Lab. After saving the file, I opened it in the laser cutter's printer and set my cutting thickness to 1/8", 20% speed, 100% power, and 100% frequency. I then clicked apply and print on the computer screen to send the file to the Epilog laser cutter's screen, clicked the reset button, selected my job, clicked autofocus, positioned the laser in the general area of my design, and hit print on the laser cutter.

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Timelapse of laser cutting

Final Product

NOV 27

Today, I read Random Nerd Tutorial's "Installing ESP8266 Board in Arduino IDE" article. To install the ESP8266 board in my Arduino IDE, I first opened the Arduino app on a computer and connected by Arduino WeMo to the computer using the PC and WeMo plug's connection cord. I went to the File tab and clicked to open my preferences. In the "Additional Boards Manager URLs" I entered http://arduino.esp8266.com/stable/package_esp8266com_index.json and clicked the "OK" button. under the Tools tab I selected "Board" and then "Boards Manager" so I could search for ESP8266. After finding the "ESP8266 by ESP8266 Community," I clicked the install button to install the ESP8266 Board on my Arduino.

NOV 28

To test the installation of the ESP8266 Board, I followed the instructions in the Random Nerd Tutorial's "Installing ESP8266 Board in Arduino IDE" article for making an LED blink using the Arduino programming language. To start, I gathered my Arduino WeMo, a blue LED, a 330 Ohm resistor, two jumper wires, and a Breadboard. I then plugged my board into my computer and opened the Arduino app. Under the tools tab, I ensured I had Board "Generic ESP8266 Module" and Port COM6 selected.

I then copied the pictured code provided by the article and pasted it into the Arduino application. Next, I clicked the upload arrow in the upper left corner and waited for the "Done uploading" bar to appear at the bottom of the Arduino app. My WeMo board flashed to confirm the code being sent before my LED began blinking.

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NOV 29

Using the table saw at a 45-degree angle, I slid the corners of all four pieces of my wood through the saw with the help of the adjustable cutting guide.

Using a four-LED neopixel strip, solder, a Hankco soldering iron set to 750 degrees Fahrenheit, a black ground wire, a red power wire, and a grey data wire, I soldered my first neopixel strip. Before I could begin soldering, I pulled my hair back with a hair tie, removed dangly jewelry, tucked hoodie draw strings inside the sweatshirt, and put safety glasses on.

trimmed wire end

twisted and tinned wire end

First, I used alligator clips to gently pull the plastic coating off both tips of my three wires. I then twisted the metal ends together and used a bit of solder to tin the twisted wire ends so the connection in the wire is stronger and the chance of fraying wires touching and sparking a fuse decreases.

I first tapped the neopixel strip down to the marble slab to prevent it from moving while I solder.

Next, I soldered a small bit of solder to the copper pads at the end of the neopixel strip to make soldering the wires to the pads easier.

Finally, I soldered the red wire to the 5V+ power pad, the black wire to the GND ground pad, and the grey wire to the DO data pad. I then turned off the soldering iron before coating the newly soldered wires with hot glue to keep them secure to the neopixel strip.

NOV 30

To start class today, I read ESP8266 Learning's "Some Neopixel Examples" article to learn about the layout of components and coding in an 8-neopixel and Arduino WeMo circuit.

I then soldered two 8-pin female/male header strips into the Arduino WeMo's pins.

DEC 1

Today, I opened the Arduino app and checked that my board, "Generic ESP8266 Module," and Port, "COM6," were selected under the tools tab.

I then copied and pasted the code in ESP8266 Learning's "Some Neopixel Examples" article into the Arduino application.

After pasting the code into the Arduino app, I changed the PIN number from D8 to 15, as this is the input pin number I have used on my Arduino WeMo board previously.

Next, I took three male wires and, using aligator clips, I gently clamped and then removed the plastic coating from the tips of the wire.

With the ends of the wires now visible, I twisted the metal strands and used a Hankco soldering iron at 750 degrees Farenheit and solder to apply a thin layer of solder to the tips of the wire, also known as tinning the wires.

Power Wire

I then twisted the end of the power wire connected to the neopixel strip to the orange male wire I just tinned.

Ground Wire

Similarly, I twisted the end of the ground wire to the purple male wire.

Data Wire

And lastly, I twisted and soldered the data wire to the brown male wire.

All wires soldered together

I then inserted the purple, ground wire into the ground pin on the Arduino WeMo, the orange, power wire into the 3V3 pin, and the brown, data wire into the D8 pin.

I then clicked the upload arrow in the Arduino application to start ESP8266 Learning's code on the Arduino WeMo and neopixel strip.

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DEC 2

Preparing the Wires

To start work today, I gathered three black, red, and yellow wires each.

Using alligator clips, I removed the plastic coating off both ends of the wires.

Next, I twisted the metal ends of the wires together.

And finally, I used a soldering iron and solder to tin the ends of the wires.

Soldering the Neopixel Strips Together

Taking the neopixel strip that is soldered to the Arduino male wires and another neopixel strip, I tapped them down making sure the arrows the the strips faced the same direction on both strips.

I then took my yellow data wire and soldered it to the DO data pad on the neopixel strip making sure that the solder did not touch any of the other pads.

I then repeated the process from the data wire for the ground and power wires and soldered all three wires to both neopixel pads.

DEC 5

Today I started by putting a bit of solder on all of the neopixel's copper pads to make soldering the ground, power, and data wires on the neopixel strips easier.

After all the pads were ready, I soldered the remaining two neopixel strips onto the Arduino WeMo's neopixel strips. I used two power, data, and ground wires each alongside a Hankco soldering iron and solder to complete this task.

To ensure my wires would not fray or break off from their soldering and cause a safety hazard, I used hot glue to coat the soldered pieces.

After successfully soldering all four neopixel strips together and ensuring their safe use, I inserted the purple ground wire into the ground pin, the orange power wire into the 3V3 pin, and the grey data wire into the D8 pin. Next, I plugged my Arduino WeMo into the computer to start the flashing neopixel LED light code.

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Video of All Four Neopixel Strips Lit up

DEC 6

Before beginning work with the Shaper Origin tool, I watched Shaper YouTube's "Shaper Origin, Lesson 3: First Cut" video. It is essential to know how to work equipment before you begin using it to keep yourself and others safe.

Next, I took my four wood pieces and applied double-sided adhesive tape to the backs of the pieces before removing the white film from the tape and sticking the pieces to the plastic piece shown below, making sure the edges of the wood pieces align with the black line drawn on the plastic piece.

On the Origin Shaper tool, I set the depth of the tool to 1/8 of an inch and pulled the tool across all of the black pieces of tape to help the tool orient itself.

I then hit the green button on the shaper tool to send down the drill bit. I began dragging the tool across the line presented on the shaper tool's screen before hitting the orange button after I had finished cutting the 1/8" ridge on my four wood pieces.

I then peeled the wood off of the plastic piece and removed any remaining adhesive on the wood.

DEC 7

Today, I started by getting my piece of plexiglass.

Next, I peeled the brown protective paper from one side of the plexiglass and sprayed it with Gila's Window Film Application Solution.

I then laid a sheet of reflective paper on the plexiglass, aligning the corners of the paper with the corners of the plexiglass as best I could. I then used a squeegee starting from the inside of the plexiglass and pushing all of the air bubbles outwards. Using a small Gila blade, I trimmed the excess paper from the sides of the mirror.

DEC 8

Video of Me Using the Drill Press

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I started today by using the drill press to drill a hole in one of my pieces of wood.

Assembling The Box

To start assembly, I inserted the pexiglass into the ridge of the wood.

I then slid another piece of wood onto the glass and then applied Titlebond II Premium Wood Glue in the touching corners of the wood pieces.

After repeating the same process as before, my wooden pieces were all in place around the plexiglass so I used masking tape to secure the wood together while the wood glue dries.

Next, I retrieved another piece of plexiglass, peeled the brown protective paper from one side of the plexiglass, and sprayed it with Gila's Window Film Application Solution.

I then laid a sheet of blue reflective paper on the plexiglass, aligning the corners of the paper with the corners of the plexiglass as best I could. I then used a squeegee starting from the inside of the plexiglass and pushing all of the air bubbles outwards. Using a small Gila blade, I trimmed the excess paper from the sides of the mirror.

DEC 9

The Breadboard

The Arduino WeMo

Taking the grey wire from my Arduino on the negative column in row 2 and the red wire from the Arduino on the positive column in slot 4, I began tracing the flow of the wires down the columns. I then put the orange male-to-female wire connected to the neopixel strip in slot + 13, the purple wire in slot - 19, and the brown wire in - 22 on the breadboard.

Video of Working WeMo Proto-board Neopixel Strip

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DEC 12

To start working on attatching the Arduino WeMo to a cookie board, I first cut the male wires off from my neopixel strip and used alligator clips to expose the ends of the wires. I then twisted and tinned the ends.

The cookie board

the cookie board with my Arduino WeMo in it

the soldered Ardunio WeMo and cookie board

DEC 13

Today I started by soldering the red positive wire from my neopixel strip into + 1, the black negative wire into - 3, and the grey ground wire into 7.

I then soldered the long green wire in slot - 12 on the right of the cookie board and - 12 on the left and the short green wire in slot 7 and - 7. Similarly, I soldered the long orange wire in slot + 14 on the right and + 14 on the left of the cookie board and the short orange wire in slot 5 and + 5.

To finish this soldering, I soldered another orange wire in slot + 2 and another green wire in slot - 1.

DEC 15

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Video of Working Arduino WeMo, Neopixel Strips, and Cookie Board

To start the day, I tested out my newly soldered neopixel strip, Arduino WeMo, and cookie board.

In the Arduino application, I changed the led numbers to the colors I desired using Google Color Picker. I then clicked the upload arrow in the top left of the screen with my Arduino WeMo plugged into the computer to send the new code to the Arduino.

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Video of the New LED Colors

I then threaded the neopixel strips through the hole I made with the drill press and tapped the neopixel strips in the inside ridges of the wooden frame. I then slid the plexiglass piece in the back of the mirror with the brown side facing the back of the box and the blue side facing the inside of the box.

The Final Product

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Problems Encountered

Incorrect Pin Placement

While testing if my first neopixel strip would properly light up, I messed up the pin placement. To fix this, I moved my ground pin to the G slot and data pin to the 8 slot.

Correct Pin Placement

When inserting the code for the LED neopixel strips from ESP8266 Learning's "Some Neopixel Examples" article, I had to change the "#define PIN" number from D8 to 15 to align with my Arduino WeMo's pin placements.

While soldering I stuggled to get the wires to stay on the neopixel strip's copper pads. To resolve this, I put a bit of solder on the copper pads before attempting to solder the wires onto the pads.

After using the Shaper Origin tool on my wood, the edges were very rough; thus, I used sandpaper to smooth the edges and picked the big pieces of wood out with my hands.

While soldering my Arduino WeMo onto the cookie board, I accidentally put my power and ground wires in completly random spots; resulting in no power flowing through the board. After my teacher, Mrs. Morrow, realized this, she helped me to use the solder sucker to remove the power and ground wires from the cookie board and resolder them into the corresponding spots for the 5V and 3V3 on the Arduino WeMo; however, in a hasty move, we accidentally switched my power and ground wires and fried the circuit. We then checked to see if any power was flowing through the Arduino WeMo with the multimeter but, alas, the entire board was fried.

After feeling remorse for accidentally causing me to fry the board, Mrs. Morrow soldered me a whole new Arduino WeMo and replaced the one we had fried together.

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