I wanted my inner thoughts mirror to really go against what we see nowadays. We are being pushed happiness and optimism so much. In the spirit of being a realist, I wanted to create something that reflected one’s actual inner thoughts back to them. In a way, I sometimes think taking optimism too far can skew one’s vision. I wanted to create something real – that perhaps adds a bit of a shock factor. When our thoughts are actually materialized and put in front of us, will we start being more aware and perhaps start reframing?
Tools
Soldering iron
Solder wire
Wire cutters / strippers
Hot glue gun
Scissors
Black tape(will become your best friend! I used an electrical one)
MATERIALS / COMPONENTS
Arduino Nano ESP32
2.4″ OLED screen(I used an affordable one from Amazon, I would suggest looking one up on Adafruit for better quality and reliability)
I had a tough time with the homework because it used a feather huzzah instead of a nano. I tried to build a circuit on Tinkercad but it didn’t work. Definitely need some help with this.
Supplies
Arduino Nano ESP32
OLED/TFT/LED screen (not sure which to use)
Two- way mirror sheet (Canal plastics)
Shadow Box
Push Button
Jumper Wires
Arduino Nano ESP32 USBC-C Cable
USB Power Bank
Adhesive Materials
Storyboard Description
Opening shot of The Mirror – Close up of the Mirror in a dark room
Shot of the back – Show the components and what’s inside
Close up shot of all the components. Describe how everything works.
Actor comes up to mirror and presses the button. The mirror shows an “inner thought”.
User presses the button several times to show different thoughts.
Cut to google sheet with all different inner thoughts written
For my final project, I have decided to narrow down on an IoT conditioning mirror. I want the mirror to trigger deeper thinking and really make you reconsider how mirrors have made us view ourselves.
I was inspired to create a mirror based off of my project for Allan’s class – in which I created a website and app that reminds you of the conditioning of society through horror and then finds ways to unlearn and remember who you are. With this project, I want to take that one step further by creating a mirror that flickers when you approach it, and whispers different societal expectations on you. I think this kind of acts like a way to materialize how many of us view ourselves daily and how we can start to rethink looking at ourselves in the mirror.
Parts
This is the parts list I got off of Chatgpt since I’m not really sure how to bring this to life at the moment.
ESP32 DevKit V1
PIR sensor (HC-SR501)
DFPlayer Mini
3W 8Ω speaker
Micro SD card
Breadboard + jumper wires
One-way mirror acrylic or mirror film
LED strip (WS2812B)
USB power bank or 5V adapter
For my next steps, I do want to research this more and talk to Becky and find a way to materialize this concept.
Making my Edward Scissorhands costume was really fun! I feel like I was finally able to bring all my goth dreams to life. I’ve always been interested in incorporating technology into clothing and this was my first project doing so and I’m pretty proud of how it turned out.
Starting out, I ordered my gloves and Becky recommend 3d printing the Scissorhands (I was considering chipboard or foil initially). I slowly realized though that pushing myself beyond that which I already knew and collaborating with my peers was way better than sticking to what I already knew. I started out by printing one scissorhand out to test it then printed the rest. Jimmy helped me with 3d printing and ofcourse the VFL staff!
I then moved on to soldering. Based on my tinkercad, I knew soldering was a big part of my project and it did end up taking a lot of time. I had to measure out how long the wires had to be for each scissorhands and use black wiring only to add to the goth look which made the whole thing confusing at times. Using the gemma was also very new to me and thanks to Kyle and Becky, I was able to understand it better. I started out with trying out one neopixel on the arduino uno and breadboard (known territory) to test it out – and it went well and then moved on to the gemma ( unknown territory).
The back is maybe not the prettiest 🤣maybe in the future I will try to 3d print in a way to insert the wires through the Scissorhands. I did use some black canvas cloth though to cover up all the wiring.
The final step on my journey was the code. I have to admit this was the hardest step even though I initially assumed it would take the least amount of time. Becky initially taught me how to use the serial monitor to test the bend for the flex sensor. I then worked with Kyle to convert this into code. We were able to get the sensor to work but it only went from white to multicolor not white to red like I hoped. I looked up why this might have been happening and chat gpt told me perhaps the gemma couldn’t handle 40 leds and I doubted this was true.
Thanks to Becky though, on the day of Halloween, she told me I just had to change my code from RGB to RGBW and although it worked for like a second, it ending up leading to a short circuit and I wasn’t able to take any pictures ☹️. Super bummed about that because I worked really hard on this but this program has taught me to expect the unexpected. I came back in on Monday and realized the sodder was touching two pins on a neopixel so once I fixed that and rebooted the gemma, IT WORKED 🥳. It felt amazing to see my hard work come into fruition.
For my costume, I have decided to narrow down on Edward Scissorhand’s hands. Out of all my ideas, that spoke to me the most but is also the most recognizable piece from this costume. For my costume, I will be wearing a black goth sweater, black skirt, stockings and black combat boots. For the Scissorhands themselves, I have ordered black gloves. I was stuck ideating on what I want the scissors themselves to be made out of – my options were foam, chipboard or foil. After some research, I felt like foam could come off easily and would be heavy and foil could make the costume look too scrappy, so I decided to go with chipboard that will be painted over.
My intention with this costume is to spook people in some way but also to add humor. Edward, in the movie is severely misunderstood but I want to change the story from misunderstanding and rejection to togetherness and love. For the interactive part of this costume, when the scissorhands are still, a white light will shine, and when I “cut through the air” with them, red strips of light will show up. As recommended, for this costume, I will be making only one scissorhand so I can use my other hand at the parade.
At the moment, I have already received my gloves. I have found a stencil that I will use to cut out the scissorhands and have ordered a “goth” edward-like sweater.
This week I worked on 3d printing and ordering more materials. Manya, Anusha and I placed an order on adafruit and I got 3 flex sensors that should be there for tomorrow’s class.
Big thank you to Jimmy also for teaching me solidworks and teaching me how to 3d print. We did however, have to put a pause to the printing process because I need clarity on how to connect the neopixels to the scissorhands .
This week, I worked on 3d printing my scissorhands. I printed one to test it out. The rest are currently in the process of printing and will be done by tomorrow’s class.
I also soddered the flex sensor and one neopixel on but I’m waiting for the rest of the scissorhands to print to be able to measure the length of the wire. I also tried testing out the code and was able to make the neopixel white but need help with getting it to detect the flex and turn red.
During tomorrow’s class, I want to work on my code. I am also gonna finish the rest of the neopixel soddering and build the circuit.
Then, I am going to use E600 to glue everything together before Friday! And the flex sensor will be sewn on.
For Halloween, I’d like to dress up as Edward Scissorhands. My three sketches took on different ways I am going to materialize this concept and incorporate neopixels.
For my first idea, I want to recreate Edward’s mechanical heart. A vibration sensor will detect touch or sound which will trigger a heartbeat pulse in red and white leds. When idle, the heartbeat will be a slow pulsing glow and with movement it will be a rapid heartbeat.
Materials:
1x Arduino Nano/Uno
1x NeoPixel ring
1x Vibration or microphone sensor
5V battery pack
Black shirt, with LED ring under fabric
For the second version of this idea, I’d like to create my own take on the Scissorhands. I want the Scissorhands to glow when they’re “being cut”. When the fingers are upright, there will be a white glow and with a cutting motion, red strips of light. I want to use tilt or flex sensors in the gloves to detect movement.
Materials:
2x Flex or tilt ball sensors
NeoPixel strip
Arduino Nano
Portable battery pack
Gloves + silver-painted cardboard/foam “blades”
For my last idea, I wanted to create something that expressed Edwards inner emotions because he was often misunderstood. Around the seams of a jacket, I want to incorporate an aura like light that reacts to different lights and glows based off of that reflecting his aura. The darker the world, the more his emotions and aura will surface, when there is more light, they’ll dim.
Materials:
1× Arduino Nano or Uno 1× NeoPixel strip 1× Photoresistor 1× 10kΩ resistor 1× 5V battery pack 1× 300–500Ω resistor 1× 1000µF capacitor Jumper wires Small breadboard Electrical tape / heat shrink Black jacket or costume base
For my plush night I was inspired by my dog – Coco. I only get to see my dogs during the weekend and it made me think of how humans experience “separation anxiety” of sorts when they’re away from their pets – and vice versa. Although I haven’t come up with an idea with how to deal with it for our pets yet, I wanted to create a plushie that reminded you of the feeling your pet gives you.
For my plushie night light exercise, I want to create a frenchie plush night light with LEDS that are receptive to darkness. When it’s dark the LEDs light up.
For our night light plush and circuit homework for this week I’d like to start by quoting Einstein “I have tried 99 times and have failed, but on the 100th times can success”. I encountered quite a few challenges but I think part of these 99 failures allowed me to learn so much more than I would have if I succeeded immediately.
For my plush night light, I chose to prototype the cactus toy that ended up looking like a little boy. Going with the flow of it, I sewed but didn’t realize how much my sewing would end up shrinking the whole plush toy once sewn and additionaly even go on to tear the seams a bit when the fluff was inserted. The material I chose also wasn’t the neatest. This truly was a lesson in how important choice is right from the beginning. That being said, the transformation of my toy from emulating a cactus to looking like a mummy was definitely interesting.
Moving onto the LED circuit, after finally understanding how to Sodder and where each part went, my LED still wouldn’t turn on. I went to Kyle from the VFL and after some diagnosing we found out the battery pack itself had a fault and that the negative wire wasn’t plugged in. This was interesting again because I would have never known how to fix a wire on a battery pack had it not been for one of my 99 failures. I chose to include the LED lighting up with the heat strips cut off to show the process of investigation as we tried to figure out what went wrong with the circuit.
For my plush night light proposal, I was primarily thinking in terms of safety which ended up branching out into two fields – one for mental health and the other physical safety.
My first idea was to create a plushie based on one’s favorite pet (mine being frenchies) who’s ears or nose lights up to mimic box breathing.
The target user for this could practically be anyone but this was mostly intended for someone struggling with anxiety or to bring someone back to the present. I think this could also act as a comfort tool for those scared of the dark.
The parts and materials needed for this would be yellow led lights and fur fabric.
Following the same target user as the previous idea, I wanted to create a drum with drumsticks attached to it, that could be used as a sensory grounding technique. When hit, the drum would pop up a color and then the user would have to find objects in their surroundings of that color. This plushie could be a great way to create an experience while grounding.
This would require led lights of all different colors and soft fabric.
My last idea steered more into physical safety. I’ve noticed many people like to run or walk on streets that have no streetlights in the suburb. This can be very dangerous and sometimes it’s hard to hold your phone up to signal your presence. I would like to create a plushie that senses light changes and shines accordingly to signal your presence on a dark road.
This would require more of a harder fabric, bright white led lights and a light sensor.
The device I took apart is what I believe to be the Fitbit Flex. Released as one of Fitbit’s earlier activity trackers, the Flex stood out for its minimalist design: no screen, just a slim core module that tracked steps, activity, and sleep while sitting inside a flexible rubber wristband. Its simplicity and lightweight build made it popular, and the removable band design allowed users to swap colors and styles with ease.
Tools I used for this teardown:
My hands
Tweezers
Precision screwdriver handle
Extra smaller precision screwdriver handle for the tiniest screws
To begin the teardown, I first removed the tracker from the band. Since the Flex was designed to be interchangeable, this step was fairly easy—I just used my hands to press and slide the small tracker module out of the wristband. Once I had the core in hand, I noticed there were three tiny screws securing it to the band, although one was already missing. Using my precision screwdriver, I carefully removed the remaining screws. Because of their size, I switched to an even smaller screwdriver handle to make sure I didn’t strip or lose them.
With the screws removed, the tracker was free from the strap, leaving me with the main module ready for further disassembly.
After removing the module from the band, we can see the silicone strap with its inner plastic casing that holds the electronics in place. Inside the cavity is a rubber insert, which helps reinforce the housing and keep the capsule secure. Next to it is the main capsule, which contains the circuit board, chips, and the LED indicator section. There’s also some adhesive residue around the housing, showing how the unit was sealed into the strap.
Upon further examination of the unit, we can see that the capsule houses all the core electronics. The main PCB (printed circuit board) is exposed, with various chips, sensors, and contact pads visible. At one end sits the LED indicator array, responsible for displaying the familiar row of dots on the tracker. The construction shows how compactly everything is integrated into a single module, designed to slide neatly into the strap while remaining water-resistant and durable.
I continued to pry open the Fitbit Flex using tweezers and observed the battery section. There’s a circular coin-cell battery, which looks like a standard lithium battery for small devices. Next to it, there’s a square replaceable battery with the markings +LSSP031420AB – 531869887, connected to the PCB via a small connector.
The NFC antenna is also visible. It’s a thin coil integrated into a flexible PCB, and during the teardown, it was broken. On the Flex, this antenna isn’t used for payments; it primarily handles wireless signal functions, like aiding Bluetooth syncing or device detection.
Opening the case exposes the main circuit board. At the center is a white flex connector, which links the board to the battery and sensors. Around it are gold test pads used in manufacturing to check the circuits.
On the left is the cavity for the vibration motor, responsible for buzz alerts. The right side shows the battery compartment, where the lithium-polymer cell normally sits, with contacts connecting to the board. The yellow gasket material around the edges helps seal and protect the electronics from sweat and movement.
The main printed circuit board (PCB) sits in the module, holding the microcontroller, memory, accelerometer, and power management circuitry that make the Flex track steps, monitor sleep, and sync with your phone.
On the PCB, there are small white label stickers with QR codes. These are identification labels that contain information like serial numbers, batch numbers, and part identifiers. They are used during manufacturing for tracking, testing, and quality control, and don’t affect the device’s normal operation.
The Fitbit Flex is built starting with the rigid multilayer PCB, where copper traces and vias are etched and laminated. Surface-mount components like the microcontroller, memory, accelerometer, PMIC, LEDs, and tiny resistors and capacitors are placed on the board using pick-and-place machines and soldered in reflow ovens. The NFC antenna is etched onto a flexible PCB, while the battery and connectors are attached with solder and adhesive. The silicone band is injection-molded, and the tracker module is snapped into place. After assembly, each unit is tested for step tracking, Bluetooth syncing, vibration, and LEDs using test fixtures and optical inspection.
Two design elements that interested me are the removable rechargeable battery and the NFC antenna. I found it really interesting that the Fitbit Flex has a replaceable battery, and even an extra one tucked in the module. The designers likely added this to extend the device’s lifespan, letting users swap batteries instead of replacing the whole tracker. It also adds convenience for servicing and ensures the device remains reliable over time. The thin copper NFC antenna also caught my attention. Even though the Flex doesn’t use it for payments, it’s included to enhance wireless communication, like improving Bluetooth syncing or device detection. Its compact and flexible placement shows careful consideration for space, signal strength, and interference with other components.
In conclusion, the Fitbit Flex’s tracker module showcases a compact, efficient design. From the replaceable battery to the PCB with the microcontroller and accelerometer, and the LEDs and NFC antenna, every component serves a specific function while minimizing size. The device’s modularity, careful component placement, and lightweight design highlight the thoughtfulness of the engineering and make the Flex both functional and durable.
