Spotify Jukebox

Art to label the Vibe playlist card.
Art to label the Ramin Djawadi playlist card.

Inspiration

The idea was initially formed as a joke between the group members as an interesting and unique way to play music. The group sought out a fun (and probably pointless) method to play or pause music without needing to click on playlists in the Spotify software. In other words, a useless invention. Gaining inspiration from online projects, the group set out to accomplish this task with programmable cards and a hidden sensor.

What it does

The raspberry pi and NFC sensor are connected in a 3-D printed casing. Cards are programmed to accomplish a certain action when tapped on the surface of the casing (Including playing a specific playlist, pausing, and playing the music).

How we built it

Hardware was gathered

Jukebox case was designed in Solidworks and 3D printed

Raspbian os was loaded onto the pi

RFID reader was connected to the pi, along with other necessary cables

Python venv was set up with necessary packages (spotipy, other dependencies)

Spotify URIs were written onto blank RFID cards using NFC Tools app

Read in RFID cards with scanner using PN532 python library, experimented with bytearray received in order to decode it

Create spotify app through developer account

Wrote code to take scanned input and carry out the particular action in spotify (eg. playback, pause/play, skip track)

Assembled product inside printed case

Challenges we ran into

We were unfamiliar with the PN532 and how to use the switches and pins. There was very little documentation online for our specific model of the PN532-HAT. We had trouble figuring out how to decode the hex code into a string that Spotipy would recognize. Through trial and error and reading the Wiki on PN532, we found the correct switches.

One group member was unable to physically work on the project with the rest of the group. The group communicated with him using Discord video call throughout the project.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Figuring out the correct switches on the PN532 to begin reading the NFC cards.

Incorporating certain engineering elements, such as using CAD to create a 3D printed casing (though we would like to make a more functional case for future projects).

Creating a functioning first project with a raspberry pi.