Infinity Mirror With Hidden LEDs on a Fibonacci Pattern

Hi - I'm Mathias - an elderly Burning Man inspired engineer fiddling around with some LED blinkenthings which appear to enjoy some people. After doing some pretty nice stuff with LED strips in conjunction with infinity mirror setups I was inspired by some nice LED-Projects by Jason Coon (https://www.evilgeniuslabs.org/about/).He placed some WS281x LEDs in a wonderful Fibonacci pattern in various count and form.

I could grab some Fibonacci64 Nano and Micro (available on tindie) and built some nice necklace pendants based on them. Inspired by these - next step was to go bigger - and I ordered a Fibonacci64 Flower to integrate this really big thing in a twist of an infinity mirror.

Idea is also from Jason - described here: https://twitter.com/jasoncoon_/status/1423412435764056066:

Instead of placing the LEDs in between the mirrors - like usual - the LEDs are placed behind the full reflecting mirror. To get the light of the LEDs to bounce between the real mirror and the spy mirror - you need to get 'holes' in the reflecting surface. The holes have to be at the exactly right place ... and this is how it can be achieved!

These are the things (not complete, as I tend to forget some tools and supplies):

Hardware:

1. Fibonacci64 Flower link.
2. Microcontroller SAMD21 QT Py (not using the capacitive sensor function), can be soldered on the back of Fibonacci64 Flower. Or any other controller which can drive WS281x LEDs.
3. Ikea picture frame - Ribba 23x23(retired); replaced by Sannahed 25x25. Any frame supporting two 'layers' where you can put your pictures in back or in front is usable. You can also build your own - but I was lazy.
4. Window mirror foil (can be found at Ama***).
5. Glass mirror 30x30 (needs to be cut in size) e.g. Ikea Blodlönn (sold in 4 - good if you break one - like I did).
6. Double-sided adhesive tape - the one with a foam layer in between used for mirrors.
7. Wall wart power supply or something else to supply 5V to the system.
8. USB-C power cable (when using SAMD21 QT Py).

Tools:

1. Cutter.
2. Spray can with soapy water.
3. Squeegee / fountain blade (get it with the spy foil!).
4. 3d printer to print the LED layout stencil (can imagine this can also be handcrafted).
5. PC and some Arduino skills (or know someone with it).
6. Soldering iron.
7. Torx 20 bit to build a scratching tool (can be a defect one).
8. Screwdriver to build a scratching tool (there will be lots of scratching on glass ...).
9. Painters sticky tape.
10. Glass cutter.
11. Sanding paper / file.
12. Workshop gloves (I use some rubberized, glass fiber reinforced ones).
13. Tweezers.
14. Mild glass cleaning detergent / microfibre cloth.

I used the 'Maker' Version of Fusion360 to create the 3d printable stencil for this. Stl and .f3d files below.

1. Scan the Fibonacci64 Flower to have references.
2. Put this picture in the background and placed 3mm holes (0.12 in for the imperial parts of the world) on every LED.
3. Then extrude the whole and print a stencil out of PETG (pretty sure PLA or any other material will do it, but the unit was loaded with it).
4. After printing: check if all holes fit - and put a little piece of tape on the holes where are no LEDs. There are some in the attached file ...

All mirrors I used have a plastic foil glued to the back - to protect the reflecting layers of the mirror, and keeping the glass fragments together when the mirror is damaged.

The mentioned reflective layers are: a thin layer of aluminium (for the silvery reflection) followed by a thin layer of copper (to retain a 'warm', natural looking reflection). Leave this protective foil on the mirror for now.

1. Wear your protective gloves!
2. Cut the mirror to size - so it fits the rear of the picture frame. The Ikea mirrors are 2 or 3 mm. They break very easily, so be careful. If not sure how to do it - here is a nice video explaining it.
3. When the mirror is cut, sand the very sharp edges with sand paper or the file.
4. If your mirror hopefully is still intact - remove the protective foil on the backside. Be careful - do not break your precious mirror by pulling too hard.

We need tools to scratch those little holes for the light in the reflecting layer. I myself used an old worn Torx20 bit, which I sanded down to about 3mm in diameter.

Then I created some sharp edges with a file.

But ... to be honest, as the bits material is pretty hard - I did the work with a multifunctional rotating tool (aka Drem....).

As this tool only creates a transparent ring - I also sharpened the flat side of a schwag screwdriver to about 2mm wide.

Recommendation: try the next steps on some leftover of your mirror cutting experience. Just to test out the pressure you can apply without breaking the glass...

1. Now place the printed stencil on the grey side of the mirror.
2. Fix it with painters tape so it cannot move. Do not cover holes with tape.
3. Doublecheck that you have got the correct orientation. LEDs have to shine through the holes from behind the mirror.
4. Triplecheck the orientation.
5. Start with the former build ex-Torx20 on creating a hole in the mirror. I started in the middle - but this is on you ...
6. You may use a kind of 'light box' or any light source to check your success.
7. Start your favorite music or TV show to keep yourself happy during the boring (German joke: haha) work: Repeat 63 times until you have 64 nice little rings visible on the right places in the mirror.
8. Stay hydrated or grab a coffee.
9. Then: Change your tool to the modified screwdriver. Scratch off the rest of the reflecting layers in the middle to get a nice hole. Check your success with the mentioned 'light from the other side'.
10. Process can also be seen in the '+3' pictures above.

Solder the SAMD21 QT Py to the back of the LED PCB, program it accordingly to Jasons explanation here and get the code here. Make it shine and light.

I built the above thing to adjust the Fibonacci64 LED PCB exactly over the holes I made. So you can see when the LEDs are aligned perfectly.

1. When perfect aligned - apply some painters tape to the unit to fix the PCB on the mirror.
2. Cut off some small pieces of the double-side adhesive on foam.
3. Remove one side of the protective paper (if existing).
4. Carefully lift up a leave corner of the PCB just enough to place the sticky thing under the PCB - sticky side to the mirror. Do not move the PCB on the mirror. Do not cover a LED!
5. Use the tweezers to remove the protective paper - then lower the PCB to make it stick.
6. Move to another corner / leave-end. Repeat the placing of 'stickiness'.
7. Move again to another corner / leave-end. Repeat the placing of 'stickiness'.
8. Now you may remove the painters tape.
9. Put power to the PCB - check if everything worked out as intended.

Best to do the following outside - or in the most clean place you have in your flat. Any kind of dust may become your enemy. A layer of soft cloth or kitchen paper towel underneath may help to soak up the water.

1. You need soapy water (2 to 3 drops of dish soap in water - 500ml. In a spray bottle).
2. Take the plastic 'glass' of the picture frame and remove one side of the protective foil of it.
3. Cut a generous bigger piece of spy foil out of the roll you got.
4. Tricky part: Seperate the mirror foil from the clear base layer. Working with two sticky tapes in a corner or tweezers worked most time for me.
5. Place the clean frames glass and the mirror foil (sticky side up) close to another.
6. Spray them generously with soapy water. Use more than you think you have to.
7. Put the wet sides onto another.
8. Use the squeegee / fountain blade to push out the water out under the spy foil - working from center to the outside.
9. If you see some little 'bumps' caused by some dust ... ignore them. If not too many of them are there, they do not destroy the illusion.
10. When you pushed all the water out: cut the edges with a sharp knife.
11. Some say the mirror should be dried up and rest for a night to get it's full stability - but I used him straight afterwards with no real issues.

Now to the final assembly:

1. Remove the remaining protective foil from the frames plastic glass.
2. Clean the spy mirror.
3. Clean the LED mirror. If you find little scratches on it: don't worry, the will get almost invisible.
4. Put the empty frame on the table.
5. Put the plastic glass spy mirror into the frame. Mirror foil side facing you.
6. Put in the spacer frame.
7. Cover everything with the glass mirror - PCB side facing you.
8. Optional (but I like electronics covered): Put the 'old' back panel on it and bend the metal thingies so that all holds together. Depending on your setup you may need to cut a slot for the cable in the back panel.

Just do it!