Sunday, August 6, 2017

Magic Mirror build

When I started on this project, I intended to have a tablet PC behind a 2 way mirror.  After mocking it up, I realized that it would be too small.

I just happened to have a 22" IPS display handy and the size was right, so I took the screen out of the plastic housing and measured that for a mirror and a frame.

I ordered the mirror from a place called TAP plastics.

I then cut pieces for a frame that would hold all the electronics and the mirror.

I used 1"x3" pine for the box that holds the screen and whatnot, and 1/2"x3" pine for the facings.
Cutting by hand is tough work.
Frame construction finished.  22.5" tall, 16" wide. 

I used glue and countersunk brads to hold the facings to the box.

The corners weren't perfect. 

So I filled them with sanding putty.




The Raspberry Pi 2 that runs the software for the magic mirror.  It's mounted on a 3d printed holder.  The blue, yellow and green wires at the top go to a thermal motion sensor, and tells the screen when to go in and out of low-power mode.  Also, if you look really close, you might see 2 air holes drilled into the box above the pi. There are more on the bottom of the box, for air circulation.
 Bit of a bodge for the power adapter.  Hot glue is fantastic stuff.
 All the parts installed. You can see the circuit board for the motion sensor at the top.  I got a 25 foot extension cord and cut the end off, splicing it into the power supply for the Pi, and a plug for the monitor.

It verks!  The software I went with is called Magic Mirror 2.  There many add-on modules.  Loads more have been added since I built this mirror, and add functions that will be interesting to play with.