Prism Personal Dining Table

The Prism personal dining table is a mindful object for people who feel like they don't have enough time for themselves. Sometimes constantly being around others can be tiring for introverts like myself. I also know that a well deserved break for me often involves food. This table lights up when it feels that dinning-ware has been placed on it and it also sends a message to your peers on slack that you are having time to yourself and to not disturbed.

It uses mainly the force sensor and newpixel rbd leds.

Step 1: Step 1: Gather Your Materials

Electronic Components:

- 1 Adafruit feather huzzah board or Arduino uno board (if not incorporating IOT component)

- 1 force sensor resistor

- 1 micro usb cable

- 1 5v wall adaptor

- 1 strip of about 8 neopixels

- 1 4.7k Ohm resistor

- 1 Solderless breadboard

- Plenty of wires to solder and connect to the breadboard

Materials:

- 1 sheet of opaque white acrylic

- 2 yards of 1.5 inch balsa wood

- 9 yards of .5 inch balsa wood

Tools

- Gorilla Glue

- Knife

- Lazer Cutter

- Wire strippers

- Soldering Iron and solder

- Wire cutters

- Helping Hands

Step 2: Step 2: Code and Circuit

Code your arduino making sure you test your force sensor. If you solder your force sensor like I did, be very careful because the sensor can be very sensitive. See this tutorial on force sensors.

Here is my code:

Step 3: Step 3: Set Up Files for Laser Cutting

I used a lazer cutting machine to cut the acrylic to the size of my liking and to etch the design into. Feel free to use any design you like. Be mindful of any borders you might have as well I also used a sharpie to fill in the etches so they were easier to see from far away.

Step 4: Step 4: Measure and Glue Your Wood Border

I used wood as a decorative border as well as the supports for the tray. First I measured and cut each section to match the dimensions of the tray I glued them on top of each other with gorilla glue. Just make sure you have enough time for the glue to fully set and stick together.

Step 5: Step 5: Circuit Construction

Whether you are using the Huzzah Board or the Uno, You will need to replicate the diargram on the board. Don't worry about making it terribly small. Just make the tray high enough that the board can be hidden under it. Then you will want to solder your neopixels together. Make sure you're really careful doing this though. inproper soldering can cause your board to short.

Step 6: Step 6: Finish and Enjoy

Carefully attach the neopixels to the bottom of the tray so they can be seen and reflected off the table and you are done! when you put a plate down, the tray will light up and if you incorporated the IOT portion, it will send a message to your colleges. I hope this project encourages people to take time for themselves and look out for each other. I would love to continue this project by perfecting the IOT component as well as creating a set of placemats that remove the expectation of people checking their phones while they eat. I would live any suggestions on how to make the next iteration better.

Thanks!