Planning My Smart Mirror Build

How I planned my smart mirror build

This post covers how I planned my smart mirror build. The main goals of my planning process were determining requirements, preparing the monitor, and creating a 3D model and blueprints for the mirror.

I used the open source MagicMirror² platform to implement my mirror. The software runs on a Raspberry Pi 3B+, a credit-card sized single-board computer. Raspbian, the Raspberry Pi Foundation’s official supported Operating System, hosts the Raspberry Pi.

The Raspberry Pi 3B+, which hosts the mirror’s software.

Requirements

Before starting on the mirror, I made a list of some initial requirements — things I deemed “must haves” for the mirror.

Magic Mirror Modules

I planned on using the following modules for my mirror implementation:

Clock
The date and the time of day.

Current Weather
The current weather for a given location.

Weather Forecast
The weekly forecast for a given location.

Calendar
Display upcoming events, pulled from any iCal calendar. (I wanted to use my Google Calendar)

The default MagicMirror² interface, with the modules labeled.

Custom Functionality

Since the mirror was going to be a gift for my girlfriend, I wanted to implement a convenient way to compliment her on the mirror without accessing it. After some research, I decided that Google Drive was a great medium for which I could accomplish this task.

I was successful in implementing such functionality, and contributed a module that performs this function to the MagicMirror community. I

Extras

• Backing up the micro-SD card image for easy restoration if the micro-SD were to become corrupted or fail.
• Remote access to the Raspberry Pi using RealVNC.

Preparing the Monitor

I decided to use a 32" Samsung LED TV, model #UN32D4003BD as the display for the mirror. It was on the lighter end of the spectrum for a TV of its size, and it was quite thin being only 1.9" in depth. A thinner monitor allows a thinner mirror, so monitor depth is very important to consider!

My parrot, Lilly, beside the monitor for scale! (I hope she makes an acceptable metric)

Removing the bezel

I decided I would remove the bezel from the monitor, for the following reasons:

• Removing the bezel would allow the monitor to sit flush with the glass.
• The bezel adds needless depth and weight to the monitor — after removing the bezel, the depth of the display was 0.5"(from 1.9").

Removing the bezel from the monitor.

Identifying the monitor parts

Now that I had removed the bezel from the monitor, I needed to identify the functions of each device — what was important, what was not, and what I should be careful with.

The back of the monitor, with its exposed hardware.

The Controller Board
The green board on the left is the controller board. It does all the video processing, and the input devices plug into it.

The Power Supply
The brown board on the right is the power supply. It has exposed, high voltage parts. It is not inherently dangerous unless you tinker with it. (No touching!)

Infrared Receiver
The left-most cable bundle that is black and orange plugs into the IR receiver. This is how the monitor receives instructions from the remote control. I will attached this to the final build so that the monitor can still be controlled with the remote control.

Speakers
The speakers are attached to the bottom of the monitor by screws. They are connected to the controller board via the red and yellow cables. These were removed because my implementation of the mirror did not require sound.

3D Modelling and Blueprints

I took the approach of designing the mirror around the size of the display, which I obtained beforehand. After measuring the monitor display panel, I created a 3D model and some blueprints which would serve useful when building the mirror.

3D Modelling with SketchUp

I used the free software SketchUp to create the 3D rendering of my mirror. I found the software to be intuitive and full featured. In just a few afternoons of YouTube tutorials and reading the SketchUp online forum, I felt competent in creating basic 3D models — something that was previously completely foreign to me!

A Rendering of the 3D model.

Developing a 3D model of the mirror helped me in the following ways:

• I could see how the mirror will look on a basic level, before I had anything tangible.
• I was able to experiment with many different designs, while re-using many of the same 3D components I made.
• I was able to derive concrete measurements from the final model.

Needless to say, I will be using SketchUp to model any similar projects in the future.

LayOut

To create detailed blueprints of my mirror I used the free software, LayOut. LayOut is part of the SketchUp suite of products, and is used to create documentation for SketchUp models. Since it is designed specifically for SketchUp models, it is easy to use once you have learned SketchUp.

One of the blueprints for the mirror I made using LayOut.

I made a blueprint for each angle of the mirror I thought would be useful for me, in addition to cross-sectional blueprints. Although my final build for the mirror differed slightly from the blueprints, they were incredibly useful in helping me build it.

Checkout this PDF containing the full blueprints if you would like to see more!

Thanks For Reading!

Thanks for taking interest in my project! Check out the main post for this project, encapsulating the entire process of making the mirror: How I Made a Smart Mirror that Integrates with Google Drive

Or, check out the next step in the process: Software Setup for My Smart Mirror

If you have any questions, please feel free to reach out to me at mitchelltmarino@gmail.com.