Sleep Box

Mark Zuckerberg's wife Priscilla Chan was having a hard time managing the kids and the Chan Zuckerberg Foundation that the couple run collectively. Being the sweet husband Mark is, he made a simple and elegant box for his wife to help her sleep.

I have made a similar version of the same with an arduino uno and a few LEDs, admiring the thought and simplicity of the project.

Basic Functionality-

We often wake up in the middle fo the night, and grab our wrist watches to see the time. 4am? okay I have to get ready for work in 3 hours.

That's where the problem begins, the countless minutes of insomnia, waiting for the alarm to start ringing.

The Sleep Box offers an elegant solution to this problem, it is designed to emit a very faint light from its bottom surface between the hours of 6am-7am. So if the sleeper, wakes up in the middle, say 6:10am; he/she knows that it's an okay time to get out of bed.

And since it doesn't not show time at all, if the sleeper wakes up in the middle of the night by accident, the 'not-glowing' state of the Sleep Box puts them back to sleep. And with it goes the anxiety of knowing what time it is.

(The light emitted is of 5 LEDs, thus is extremely low, which does not wake the sleeper up as soon as the box is activated).

The Build

I started of the setting up the Arduino and the brradbox circuit. 5 LEDs is enough for the light needed.

The code for the Arduino is pretty basic in itself, and since you do not need to attach any separate components, is perfect for a first timer getting started with the Arduino.

As soon as you have rigged up the circuit, connect the LEDs with the Arduino as shown and upload the code!

Mechanical part

Now that the brain is done, we can start working on the body. I used a 4inx4inx4in cude, cut 5 faces of from a wooden plank and glued them together. A couple of nails also ensures a solid build.

Don't forget to sandpaper the wood, and polish it a bit for that smooth finish.

Now, put up a sheet of frosted glass/butter paper in a frame in the bottom most face and make sure it fits.

Install the electrical components inside it and turn on the power button.

Close the lid and you're good to go!