Infinity Mirror POC
So after several test with mirrors, foil and leds I thought it was time to make a POC (Prove of Concept) infinity mirror. I wanted a real miniature infinity mirror just to prove to myself that it was possible to make one and to see how it would look.
For those of you who do not know what an infinity mirror is I urge you to search for it on Google. You will be overwhelmed by different versions and hopefully just like me with their beauty.
Just a quick explanation. An infinity mirror consists of a box or any other form from which the bottom is a mirror. Onh top there is glass covered with a reflecting foil. The foil is put on the side of the glass that is in the box. The foil is a special kind of foil. It is made for privacy purposes. It lets people look from within their house outside but does not allow the outsiders to look inside.
It is the same foil that is used to make one-way glas like you can see in so many police movies. The bad guys on one side of a room and the good guys on the otherside. The bad guys can not look outside but the good giuys can see what is happening inside.
This way we have two mirrors opposite eachother of which one mirror lets some light pass through and that is the one on top.
Now if you put a line of leds (or any other lightsource) between the two mirrors the lights will be refelected up and down all the time which gives an illusion of depth.
For those of you who do not know what an infinity mirror is I urge you to search for it on Google. You will be overwhelmed by different versions and hopefully just like me with their beauty.
Just a quick explanation. An infinity mirror consists of a box or any other form from which the bottom is a mirror. Onh top there is glass covered with a reflecting foil. The foil is put on the side of the glass that is in the box. The foil is a special kind of foil. It is made for privacy purposes. It lets people look from within their house outside but does not allow the outsiders to look inside.
It is the same foil that is used to make one-way glas like you can see in so many police movies. The bad guys on one side of a room and the good guys on the otherside. The bad guys can not look outside but the good giuys can see what is happening inside.
This way we have two mirrors opposite eachother of which one mirror lets some light pass through and that is the one on top.
Now if you put a line of leds (or any other lightsource) between the two mirrors the lights will be refelected up and down all the time which gives an illusion of depth.
The picture shows you my actual prototype and believe me in reality it is much better as this picture shows.
So I first started with designing the frame for the mirror. I did not want it to be too big. Just a small prototype. Mirrors and glass-cutters can be bought for a few euro's at your local DIY shop. I started with cutting a mirror in a small size being 6 by 6 cm. And guess what. This was my first time with cutting glass so I messed up. The mirror I ended up with was 58mm x 62 mm. Well I just had to work with that.
So I designed a box in Tinkercad in which this mirror would fit. I also made holes in the sides of the box where the leds would fit in.
Now be aware that the mirror has some height. This height has to be taken in account. Meaning that the leds must be placed exactly between the 2 mirrors. If not the mirrorring effect will not be symetric. So my mirror had a height of 2 mm and therefore the position of the holes for the leds should be 2mm higher as in the midst of the height of the box,
The next picture shows you my Tinkercad design. The holes are off-center like I discussed above.
So I first started with designing the frame for the mirror. I did not want it to be too big. Just a small prototype. Mirrors and glass-cutters can be bought for a few euro's at your local DIY shop. I started with cutting a mirror in a small size being 6 by 6 cm. And guess what. This was my first time with cutting glass so I messed up. The mirror I ended up with was 58mm x 62 mm. Well I just had to work with that.
So I designed a box in Tinkercad in which this mirror would fit. I also made holes in the sides of the box where the leds would fit in.
Now be aware that the mirror has some height. This height has to be taken in account. Meaning that the leds must be placed exactly between the 2 mirrors. If not the mirrorring effect will not be symetric. So my mirror had a height of 2 mm and therefore the position of the holes for the leds should be 2mm higher as in the midst of the height of the box,
The next picture shows you my Tinkercad design. The holes are off-center like I discussed above.
And here is the printed version with all leds exept on one side missing. The mirror has already been placed into the box. That was indeed necessarry otherwise I could not fit it in anymore once the leds had been placed.....
The next picture shows you all leds in place and glued with a hot glue gun. By the way as you can see the leds are the leds scavanged from christmass leds like I wrote in my weblog here (click).
Next step was to solder all wires together. I soldered the wires in groups from the sides of the mirror. That way it was easier to lacate any faults. As you can see the wires were marked, the coloured wires were the positive sides of the led. The schematic in the next picture shows the intention. Dont forget the limiting resistor like the picture shows you.
And here is how that works out in real life
Time for the first test.
Ok the base works !!!
Now on to the top mirror.
The top mirror is a piece of glass that is as big as the box is. So it will rest on the sides of the box. On one side of the glass I have put the reflective foil. This side (the side with the foil) will be put on the box and then glued on it so it can not move anymore.
The glas was first cut to the size of the box being 62mm x 66mm and then the foil was glued onto it.
Now on to the top mirror.
The top mirror is a piece of glass that is as big as the box is. So it will rest on the sides of the box. On one side of the glass I have put the reflective foil. This side (the side with the foil) will be put on the box and then glued on it so it can not move anymore.
The glas was first cut to the size of the box being 62mm x 66mm and then the foil was glued onto it.
Next step the casing. Again I designed it in Tinkercad and then printed it like the pictures show.
And then the bottom of the case.
Now the lastb step is to glue the frame into the case. Make a hole for the power lead to come out and glue the bottom onto the case. And ready we are.
As you can see the infinity mirror is powered from 3 AA batteries giving 4,5 volts. However you can also power it from a 5 volt powerbank (li-ion accu), USB power supply or anything similar.
The last picture clearly shows you the size and proves that it really works well. Like said before the real world view is much better as the picture shows you. It really is magic. You look straight into the void. You do know it is an optical illusion but nevertheless be carefull if you have fear of heights.
I really urge you to build one. It is magic. Everybody who sees it likes it and it is fun to build.
Next steps which are planned for the definitive version. Experimenting with a rgb-led-strip. Experimenting with controlling a rgb-ledstrip from an Arduino which gives you more flexibility as the standard remore control delivered with the rgb-ledstrip. Maybe experimenting with neo-pixels so you can have each led radiate a different color and make leds chase eachother etc. That should give some nice effects, And last but not least remote controlling this all from an android phone. So watch this space. Until then have fun.
Only thing left is to give you the STL files so you can start designing it yourself.
I really urge you to build one. It is magic. Everybody who sees it likes it and it is fun to build.
Next steps which are planned for the definitive version. Experimenting with a rgb-led-strip. Experimenting with controlling a rgb-ledstrip from an Arduino which gives you more flexibility as the standard remore control delivered with the rgb-ledstrip. Maybe experimenting with neo-pixels so you can have each led radiate a different color and make leds chase eachother etc. That should give some nice effects, And last but not least remote controlling this all from an android phone. So watch this space. Until then have fun.
Only thing left is to give you the STL files so you can start designing it yourself.
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