Instructables Write-Up: To be completed…
ABOUT
When I was interning at Aesculap Implant Systems, my mentor mentioned that he saw raspberry pi programming on my résumé and brought up a project that he had always wanted to build: the classic smart mirror. Essentially, a programmed raspberry pi is connected to a monitor that is mounted behind a two-way mirror in order to create the illusion of a computer hidden in the mirror.
Just a few weeks later, we have a finished smart mirror that’s around 18×24″ (mirror face) and features:
- Calendar and time on top left
- Weather (temperature, wind speed, sunrise/set time, 5 day forecast) on top right
- NASA galaxy pictures (switches every 30 seconds) in middle left section
- Commute prediction and advisor on when to leave for work in lower third section
- News headlines (switches every 10 seconds) on bottom bar
- Stocks updates (scrolls along bottom edge)
- PIR motion sensing: screen turns on only when movement is detected
This project really showed me how much my understanding of programming and electronics had progressed from building the Network-Connected Lamps: I felt much more comfortable with Terminal commands, and while debugging was tough as usual (I lost a full hour because the HDMI-to-VGA cable happened to stop working properly), I had a better intuition of where to check for problems.
Skills
Raspberry pi programming, Terminal, Nano editing (JavaScript files, CSS, HTML), Python, Debugging, Electronics, Woodworking