KeyDuino helps give your living room a futuristic touch

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Now you can build your own NFC-enabled infinity mirror coffee table. 

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Have you always wanted to add some Tony Stark-like effects to your living room? Well, thanks to Pierre Charlier, you’re in luck. That’s because the French engineer, who recently launched a Kickstarter campaign for the KeyDuino, has shared a tutorial for an impressive infinity mirror table.

To bring his idea to life, Charlier upgraded a $159 IKEA RAMVIK coffee table with 152 RGB LEDs and a 19” x 27” mirror for that sweet illusion. He placed the mirror underneath the furniture’s glass top, outlined the inner edge with a strip of LEDs and layered the original glass surface with a reflective car tint. The unit itself is powered by a 5V 6A supply.

As if that weren’t enough, Charlier decided to add to the magic. Hidden under the table, the Maker equipped the IKEA piece with his NFC-enabled, Arduino-like board which enabled him to control its hue with just a tap of a smartphone. One scroll of the color wheel opens up unlimited possibilities.

Intrigued? See it in action below! Meanwhile, you can check out KeyDuino on Kickstarter, where it has successfully garnered over $14,000 from more than 230 backers.

Creating an infinity mirror clock with Arduino

In a recent Instructables post, a Maker going by the name “Dushu” has developed his own version of the infinity mirror that we previously covered on Bits & Pieces. Embodying true DIY spirit, Dushu put his own stamp on the project, as his rendition also functions as a clock!

Gaining inspiration from another Maker’s infinity mirror project, Dushu decided to develop his own by putting a unique spin on the concept. His design not only functions as a clock, but using an IR sensor and an [Atmel based] Arduino, it can turn off whenever someone approaches allowing it to function as a conventional mirror.

Dushu’s materials list consisted of:

• A standalone Arduino
• RTC Module – DS1302
• LM2596 step down adjustable power supply module 1.3V-35V:
• 1m 60LEDs/M Addressable RGB LED Strip (WS2812B):
• HC-05 Bluetooth module
• IR proximity sensor
• 4 IR LEDs; 1 IR LED detector:
• Touchpad
• 9V – 2A adaptor
• CP2102 USB-to-TTL

Once the code enabling the colors of the clock’s hands to be programmed was created, Dushu started to assemble his project. After the components were fitted, Dushu proceeded to troubleshoot his creation, as there were some issues with the powering of the LED strips. He found that it was essential to add “a night mode to the clock, so that the power supplies and LEDs can cool down at night — and hopefully prolong their life.”

You can view the infinity mirror clock in action above, or check out Dushu’s entire Instructables post here if you want to take on the project yourself. If this device piqued your interest, feel free to browse the Bits & Pieces archive of other Arduino-powered creations.

Video: Building an infinity mirror with Arduino

An infinity mirror is often used to make a room or workspace appear bigger than it actually is, with a pattern of frames that seem to extend deep into an exaggerated (or infinite) depth.

There are a number of infinity mirror builds available online, although the HackADay crew recently recommended a sweet mirror setup designed by a Maker named Ben. This particular build includes the use of four potentiometers to control an analog RGB LED strip.

“[Ben] powers everything from a 12V 5A DC adapter, which is more than enough to run the 12V RGB strip along with the [Atmel-powered] Arduino,” writes HackADay’s John Marsh.

Essentially, the mirror offers users two distinct modes – individual channel color control and color-fade. Three potentiometers are used to drive the respective RGB channels in the first mide, while the color-fade mode “slides” between all possible colors, with the fourth potentiometer spun to control the speed of the transition.

Want to learn more about building an infinity mirror? Be sure to watch the video above for additional information. Or, you can check out Ben’s complete build on Instructables.