08.0 Final Project Documentation [Michelle Spitzer]

I believe furniture should work with the people using it rather than against them.  Since the coffee table is often central in a college student’s apartment, I decided to see what I could make a couple of them do for me.

This project was an attempt at two different table ideas.  One was a writing surface lit from the bottom with leds.  The surface reacts to changes in pressure on the surface incurred while writing on the table.  While it may not make the task any easier, it makes it more fun, and the table itself makes a convenient spot to problem solve while working.  The other table was a go at an all-in-one work station. The primary goal was to create a lamp integrated with the table.  I built this lamp to fold out of the table with a swiveling light bar on the top that allows the user to adjust the angle of light.  There is also a peltier unit built into the table under an aluminum plate that cools your drink when turned on, and compartments built into the table that light up when a magnet is removed from their vicinity.  This allows you to see what you have in them without having the stuff all over the table.

Parts and Materials for the Lamp Table:

17x white LEDs

5x yellow LEDs

4x blue LEDs

8x green LEDs

8x red LEDs

hookup wire

2x 150 ohm resistors

1x 100 ohm resistor

1x 330 ohm resistor

1 peltier unit

1 computer fan

1 heatsink

3 acrylic drawer organizers

1 L298N h-bridge

1 12v, 1amp power supply

1 potentiometer

1 arduino

1 9v .66amp power supply

1 lamp fixture (I built mine of walnut and used 1/4″ brass tubing for the joints so I could run hookup wire through the assembly and avoid snagging) This would depend on the size of the table

3 reed switches

3 magnets

1 coffee table (I built mine to 25″x25″) You could build one to your specifications, or buy one and hack it so there are holes in the top surface to set elements into and add a bottom surface with plywood.

3 perf board panels to wire the LEDs onto (3″x3″, 3″x6″, 3″x9″)

Breadboard Diagram of the Lamp Table:

Schematic of the Lamp Table:

Code of the Lamp Table:
Arduino Sketch: final_lamp_table

Parts and Materials for the Writing Table

3x Force sense resistors (you could use more- I just had 3 panels)

3x LED panels from Lamp Table

colored LEDs and resistors from Lamp Table

1x Arduino

1x 9v .66amp power supply

1x coffee table (same deal as above)

2x 20″x20″ optix 1/8″ acrylic sheets for top surface (must be clear to write on it or it doesn’t erase)

1x 20″x20″ fibrous plexi for dispersion of light (goes under the two clear ones)

Breadboard Diagram of the Writing Table:

Schematic of the Writing Table:

Code of the Writing Table:
Arduino Sketch: final_writing_surface

Process Pictures

Wiring LEDs in parallel for a panel

LED panels made of perf board with through hole soldered LEDs

Video:

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~ by Michelle Spitzer on May 13, 2010.