Smart Mirror

This Smart Mirror displays customized information such as the weather, what song you are playing on Spotify, and Google Calendar right in front of you when getting ready.

Engineer

Jenovia M

Area of Interest

Software Engineering

School

San Mateo High School

Grade

Incoming Junior

Smart Mirror Milestones

Final Milestone

My final milestone is finishing my modifications to my mirror. For my modifications I decided on adding: a Spotify module which can show what song you are playing from any device, a weather forecast module, my Google Calendar, and a voice assistant. For these modules I used API keys which I wrote into my config file, letting it display on my monitor. Something I am going to continue working on after BlueStamp is a voice assistant by using a USB microphone and speaker. In regards to my frame, I finished staining it and added plexiglass to give it the appearance of a mirror. Overall, I had a really fun time building this project and I learned that software engineering is something I could be interested in within my future.

Second Milestone

For my second milestone I built a frame to hold my monitor and mirror secure. The steps for constructing my frame took about less than a week. For my first step, I measured my monitors dimensions which was a challenge for me as I had to factor in the presence of the power button on one side. The plan for my frame was to build:

-a side frame using: 2 x 23.5 in. , 2 x 13.5 in.
-a front frame using: 2 x 16.5 in. , 2 x 15 in.

After getting these measurements, I cut the wood out by using a handsaw which was a new skill I had learned. My next step was to sand the wood planks and assemble them. I connected the wood by drilling holes and using brackets with screws. This took a long time as I had to make sure the pieces were not out of line. Next, I filled the extra gaps with some wood putty and sanded it down, leaving a smooth surface. As my last step, I used a Dremel tool to carve out a hole for the power button and secured my monitor with brackets. For my first time building a frame, I was surprised with what I had accomplished. For my next steps, I am planning to stain my frame and customize the modules in the Magic Mirror to my preference.

First Milestone

My first milestone is connecting raspberry pi and running the Magic Mirror program on my monitor. By using Github, I downloaded the Magic Mirror software and loaded it onto the Raspberry Pi with an SD card. I also changed things such as turning the monitor into portrait mode and stopping the mirror from auto booting. For my second milestone I am planning to add more modules and build a frame. Since it was my first time using Raspberry Pi it was a little challenging to learn how to get it running on the monitor but it was a fun learning process.

Bill of Materials

Bill of Materials

LG Monitor
Raspberry Pi 3B
HDMI Cable
Wireless Mouse & Keyboard
Micro SD Card

Instructions

To start my Magic Mirror program on the monitor I followed this set of instructions from Github:

Magic Mirror Startup

In order to add and research different modules I used 3rd party modules from GitHub and based my steps off of these various instructions online:

3rd Party Modules
Spotify
Voice Assistant
Google Calendar
Weather Forecast

Starter Project: TV-B-GONE

Starter Project
TV-B-Gone

My Starter Project is the TV-B-Gone. It uses 4 infrared lights which are signaled by a microcontroller to turn off or power on the TV. It’s powered by 2 AA batteries and is controlled by a microcontroller which sends patterns of code to the lights when the button is clicked. The patterns of codes the microcontroller runs through go from most common codes in the USA to least common until the right pattern matches with the TV and sends a frequency to power the TV off. It also consists of 2 resistors which reduce current flow so that the LEDs don’t destroy or short, 5 transistors which allow only a certain amount of voltage to enter and power the lights, and 2 capacitors which store the electrical charge. This project includes a lot of soldering which was also a challenge because it was a new skill to me.

About

Why I chose my Project

This project was something I chose because I wanted something that could benefit me in my daily life. In the morning I usually get sidetracked with checking the weather on my phone or checking what there is to do for the day. This causes me to waste my time or get late for things such as school. So I realized that with this mirror and the modules being in front of me, this could cut out time from my daily routine. Overall, I had an amazing time at BlueStamp, I made a lot of great friends and got to try out different engineering skills. BlueStamp showed me that engineering is something I could see in my future!

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