Another Ambassador Moment: Making a Raspberry Pi Enabled Smart Mirror!
2022-01-21 | By Will Siffer
License: Attribution Non-commercial
What makes this mirror so cool?
This mirror is secretly an LCD display powered by a Raspberry Pi to show simple graphics through a sheet of 2-way glass. Since the components are all easy to come across and the software is well documented, this project is great for intermediate makers who are looking to start their first big project.
What will you need?
The project does not require that many materials since most of the time working is spent working on the software.
- A Raspberry Pi
- A 3 A power supply for the Raspberry Pi
- An LCD screen with driver board
- Cables to connect the Pi to the screen
- 2-way glass
- Wood and wood screws to make a frame
I used a prebuilt frame and screen to simplify the build process. If you are able to find one, that would remove the need to buy a mirror, frame, and screen with driver board.
What does it take to set up the software?
Setting up the Magic mirror software is a breeze, following the link: https://docs.magicmirror.builders/ takes you to the documentation on how to configure the mirror to start up for the first time. This documentation is amazing and has the help page linked for any issues that come up.
Okay I have my smart mirror, now what?
That's the best part about this software! Everything that is displayed is modular and can be fully customizable. The github site: https://github.com/MichMich/MagicMirror/wiki/3rd-Party-Modules provides a list for a huge amount of modules one can add to their smart mirror. Everything from Spotify to cryptocurrency data and google home to "on this day in history" modules exist to make your smart mirror effective and unique to you!
I finished my mirror, what should I do now?
You finished your mirror? That's awesome! Something I loved about this project was the opportunity to learn about web communication from API calls. One of my goals moving forward is to make my own module to display information about things happening around Purdue.
For more information about how I put together my mirror, be sure to watch the video at the top of the page where I go into more detail about my version of the project.
Until next time, my name's Will and I hope you learned something from this guide!
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