I am just about finished with the base version of my project. All that is left is to finish glueing the wheels onto the last two panels and installing them. Sadly i would even be done with that part if i wasn't stuck at work right now :( Any how, this has been an interesting project filled with many ups and downs, but it's nice to finally see it coming together.
A quick overview of the project is: modifying my house's current food storage cabinet to be dog proof, while making it more personalized for each roommates shelf. The personalization comes with using a piece of acrylic with a laser etched image of the roommate on it as a door for their shelf.
One of the first steps after the initial planing was to take the pictures of each roommate to get ready for the laser cutter. After I had the pictures I took them into illustrator and used the live trace function to get a stylized black and white image. The black parts are what was etched out and the white was left. This gave the resulting acrylic personalized doors.
After my imaged were etched into the acrylic it was time to take a trip to the Home Depot (which turned out to be many many trips). At home depot I picked up 4 sets of drawer casters and some assorted screws and bolts. Because i was modifying the existing cabinet figuring out a way to attach the wheels from on half of the drawer casters to the acrylic proved difficult, as well as attaching the other half of the drawer casters to the cabinet. the solution I came up with was a little less professional then I had hoped, but the best I could figure out: Super glue! Lots of super glue! Below is a picture of the casters in place on the cabinet and also a close up of the wheels glued to the acrylic.
After much ghetto gluing I was able to finish tow of the four doors. Now all that remains is to finish the other two doors and attach them. the way they work is by lifting up on the bottom and swinging them up then pushing in along the railing. Now moose can't eat out food! Below is an image of the two doors that are finished.
Once I finish the practical application I have plans to set up led's for each panel which are connected to an arduino attached to an ambient light sensor. When the light level is high enough the leds will be turned off and when the light level is low enough the leds will be turned on, thus making the panels light up then the kitchen is dark!
It has been a long process so far, but I am looking forward to seeing the finished product!
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