I led the building of a fully autonomous photo booth for TreeHacks 2026. It was six feet tall, six by four on the floor, made entirely of Home Depot lumber. There was a false wall at the back hiding the camera, ring light, iPad, and printer, which gave hackers the curtained booth to themselves. All they had to do was press one button, and they'd walk out with a printed photo strip.
Fabrication with Anamika Chinnakonda; Toryn Thompson led the electronics; backdrop and logo painted with Grace Wang and Emma Lopez.
fabricationhardwaretreehacks
The build
The floor and the bench, before any walls went on.Two walls now attached.The full six-by-four footprint closed in, with the interior divider set.The back panel in the woodshop, cut for the iPad, the ring light, and the printer slot.Shelves mounted behind the panel to hold the equipment out of sight.Laser-cut stencils for the camera logo.The panel live: camera preview on the iPad, ring light on, everything hidden behind the wall.Inside, once the backdrop had been spray-painted.The hand-painted sign, drying in the build room.The point of all of it: two finished strips, three frames each, printed on the spot.
