DP 5 

This sketch is in onshape an application that we have been using in class this past week. This is the sketch I exported and placed in Glowforge to be printed. 

My lantern is an emulation of a firefly or dragon fly. It's an abstract version.  The lantern project was a very fun quick way to learn how to use the application, On shape, and to learn how to use the  laser cutter. 

My sketch is using oak, padauk, and purple heart.  I wanted to do a simple pattern so that it fits with the decor in my house. I want to give these coasters to my mom for her tea mugs and cups. 

1. Cut wood into strips

2. glue them together in the pattern you want

3. Plane the wood  so that its nice and smooth

4. Cut wood with the measurements of the size you want your coaster

5. finish the edges and make them the preferred shape

6. finish with a clear protective coat

For my coaster I utilized half inch strips of wood. I then used wood glue to get all of the pieces covered. After glued I leaned them up, all facing the same direction. I then pressed the pieces together, propped them up on claps, and clamped the strips together. I used four clamps two in the center and two on either end. 

This is the final step! After being clear coated my coasters will be ready to gift. They will be nice and shiny as well as protected for the things that will be placed on them. 

For the stoplight a code was given 90% complete. There was an error in the code that needed to be fixed. This was the code given: 

import time

import board

import digitalio

red_led = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.GP11)

red_led.direction = digitalio.Direction.OUTPUT

amber_led = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.GP14)

amber_led.direction = digitalio.Direction.OUTPUT

green_led = digitalio.DigitalInOut(board.GP13)

green_led.direction = digitalio.Direction.OUTPUT

while True:

    red_led.value = True

    time.sleep(5)

    amber_led.value = True

    time.sleep(2)

    red_led.value = False

    amber_led.value = False

    green_led.value = True

    time.sleep(5)

    green_led.value = False

    amber_led.value = True

    time.sleep(3)

    amber_led.value = False

The error was located in one of the lines of code for the amber light.  all I had to do was move one of the lines of code to fix it.

  For the light patterns I made separate codes for all five patterns. The code is all on one file but they are separated. For the up down code two lights had to turn on at a time.  The chase clockwise and counter clockwise one light turns one at a time. left and right three lights on the left were on and then three lights on the left turned on. blink all was the last pattern and that was the one that I coded, and all of the lights turned on for that code. 

For the creation and assembly of my infinity mirror prototype, I first started off by creating a document in onshape. For the shapes I started with 2 rectangles. Next we created a thin rectangle and a thick rectangle. The measurements for the thin piece are 0.125 inches, and the thick piece is 0.25 from the outside. Then the next thing I did was start gluing it together. The two thin pieces that I had went on top and bottom of four wide pieces. I use one of the inside parts of the thin cardboard to apply the solid mirror film. Next I used a piece of acrylic to apply the translucent mirror film. I then inserted the LED lights and the finished gluing the rest of the wide cardboard to either side. 

Today in class I learned how to code a Neo-pixel strip of lights. we also learned how and where to load the code for the Neo-Pixels. For the Neo-Pixels 

My final design for my infinity mirror is a bear that also is a piece of toast. I wanted to do something original for my design and go with  something outside of what I've done before. All of the steps to create a single point perspective sketch where used to display the ideas each student had. 

This is my final infinity mirror! The three light patterns are the ones that were provided, with different colors pink and purple. 

How does an infinity mirror work? 

🔆 Light Source / Luminous Object

The Infinity mirror contains a light source—usually a strip of LEDs, which are luminous objects because they emit their own light.

📷 Photons

When the LEDs are turned on, they emit photons (particles of light) that travel outward from the light source.

↘️ Incident Ray

These photons travel in straight lines and strike surfaces as incident rays. The first surface they usually hit is a partially reflective mirror (often made of translucent material), which acts like a two-way mirror.

🔁 Reflection of Light & Reflected Ray

When the incident ray hits this translucent mirror, some photons pass through (because it’s not fully opaque) while others are reflected back. The reflected photons bounce between the fully reflective opaque mirror on the back and the translucent front mirror. Each bounce creates a reflected ray, which our eyes interpret as another layer of light.

🪞 Transparent, Translucent, and Opaque

• The front mirror is translucent—some light passes through, some is reflected.
  
  

• The back mirror is opaque and highly reflective, meaning no light passes through; it just reflects photons.
  
  

• If a surface were transparent, all light would pass through with minimal reflection (which wouldn’t help in creating the infinity effect).
  
  

💡 Refraction

Although refraction (bending of light as it passes between materials) isn’t the main principle in the infinity mirror, it may slightly occur at the surfaces of the glass mirrors, but it doesn’t significantly contribute to the illusion.

🕶️ Non-luminous Object

The mirror itself is a non-luminous object—it does not emit light but instead reflects the light emitted by the LEDs.

🪞🪞 The Infinity Effect

As the light bounces back and forth between the translucent front mirror and the opaque back mirror, some photons escape through the front with each reflection. This repeated reflection of light creates smaller and dimmer versions of the original light source, producing the illusion of a tunnel of endless lights.

This information comes from the notes I took in class as well as my own research on April 16, 2025.