Build Instructions

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• 1

  Before we begin…

  We'll be creating the Lou portion of the project. If anyone is interested in building the occupancy detector (using the magnetic door switch and light sensor) let me know!
  

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  A few more parts:

  All the major components are listed in the component section, however we'll need a few more parts:

  • Acrylic paint (optional).
  • Mod Podge/PVA glue (optional).
  • 30 AWG silicone wire (ideally various colours).
  • 2 tiny screws (2-3 mm long, 1.3 mm 7/128ths thread?).
  • M2 bolt (10 mm long) and nut.
  • Medium sized paperclip (1 - 1.25 mm thick).
  • The wire legs off of a resistor/capacitor/LED.

  Tools:

  These tools would also be helpful:

  • Wire strippers.
  • Flush wire cutters.
  • Soldering iron.
  • Tweezers.
  • Pair of needle-nosed pliers.
  • Screw driver/hex driver.
  • Access to a 3D printer.

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  The plan:

  Lou is 40 mm wide, 75 mm long, and 80 mm tall (1.6 x 3 x 3.25 in). 

  The cistern will contain the AirLift breakout board and a momentary tactile switch that pokes out of the top of the cistern lid, like the button for a toilet flush. This switch will act as the reset button for the microcontroller.

  Speaking of micronctroller, the ItsyBitsy 32u4 5v board will rest on the bottom, under the cistern with the USB connector facing out of the back.

  The NeoPixel will sit inside a specially sized inset within the toilet bowl. The servo has a space above the microcontroller, where the servo can rest on its side, it's arm poking out. It'll be fixed to the toilet via a single M2 nut and bolt.

  The seat lid will attach to the toilet body via a straightened paperclip, while the stop sign will hang with the wire from a resistor/led/capacitor. 

  OKAY… let's make a miniature toilet!

• 2

  Print parts using a FFM 3D printer.

  Lou is made up of several 3D printable parts, including the seat lid, cistern lid, and stop sign… so let's print all the parts!

  You'll find 3D printable files in the file section and on the Lou GitHub page. There are also two .3mf files that will load all of parts using the settings I used. 

  You can use whatever colour you like (I chose silver because that was the lightest shade of filament I had. White would probably look very nice and would allow you to skip step 2).

  I printed everything together (except for the stop sign) using the following print settings on a Prusa i3 Mk2.5S:

  Material:	PLA
  Layer Height:	0.2 mm
  Infill:	15% Gyroid
  Supports:	Support enforcer only used in the main Lou body, and only for the area that holds the servo

  Depending on your 3D printer and the settings you use, you should expect all of the parts to take just over 4 hours to print for about 50 g of filament. 

  Stop Sign:

  The stop sign was designed to be printed in two colours (although you can print it using just one). For a sign that really pops, start with a red filament and add a colour change right before the text layer starts. Changing to a white or silver filament colour really helps to highlight the text (plus it'll make it look like a stop sign!).

• 3

  Clean & Paint parts (optional).

  Clean up prints:

  Carefully remove supports and clean up the 3D printed parts. Pay close attention to the holes for the seat lid, using a needle or very fine drill bit to make sure the holes are open and will be able to accept the wire we'll be using later on. 

  Paint parts:

  If you're like me and started with a filament colour that's not the final colour you want, then you'll have to paint your freshly printed parts.

  I painted Lou, the cistern lid, and the seat lid using white acrylic. Several coats with some light sanding between coats is all that's needed. I found that painting the inside of the toilet bowl and the underside of the toilet seat white helped to reflect the glow of the NeoPixel. 

  Extra fancy:

  One dry, use some Mod Podge/PVA glue to seal the paint and add some extra gloss. This should make Lou gleam like the porcelain throne it wants to be!

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