Smart mirror project
Smart mirror project
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The Smart Mirror is a concept from Instructables that involves a mirror that has a computer monitor behind it that displays information, useful for home use.
My Smart Mirror, designed as a gift, uses a frame that I designed in CAD. The frame was designed to provide flexibility, because I didn't have access to large or complex tools. For example, I knew that I would have to cut the acrylic single-side mirror with scissors, which would result in small cracks along the side of the mirror. I took this into account with the frame, providing a small lip along the edge of the frame to hide the cracks. In addition, the frame was designed to be thicker than necessary to contain the electronics, particularly because the screen used did not come apart easily, so I decided to just put the whole monitor in.
The electronics on the smart mirror use the raspberry pi as the main computer unit. The raspberry pi was selected because it is small and lightweight, both important factors because the mirror only has a small area for electronics. It was an important factor of design to create an on/off button for the raspberry pi, because after some time it would heat up significantly and I didn't have the means to build a cooling system. In order to build this button I used a doorbell, because it was the most accessible option and worked as a reliable button. All other wirings used are pretty standard, like HDMI and USB 3.0 power supply.
Overall, fairly happy with the build. It functions correctly and reliably and the only minor issue is heat. The main design flaw is the thickness. A future iteration of this product would ideally have a slimmer model, possibly incorporating a monitor with a removable back to save space. Wire organization would be another important part of a future iteration, including a power source that is more integrated into the model instead of awkwardly stacked on top.
While completing this project, I learned more about the Raspberry Pi, including importing code and using the GPIO pins. I also got more practice in Solidworks. I tried something new for this project, using CAD to model an existing object in order to make sure that it fits into the design. I modeled the monitor in order to make sure that it fits.
Credits:
MagicMirror software provided by https://magicmirror.builders/
On/Off software provided by https://github.com/Howchoo/pi-power-button.git
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