Copy of Copy of Radio Beats

RadioBeats is a combined final project for Physical Computing and Code Literacy. My partner, Gianmarco Ramos, and I were inspired by the difficulties of being physically separated over large distances from loved ones.

Concept

Music is a powerful and creative form of communication that can remind people of a shared memory and express deep feelings. We imagined a way to use this power of music to connect you with loved ones who live far away. With RadioBeats, you can share a special song or playlist with your loved ones simply by tapping the radio, no matter the distance.

How does it work?

Upon receiving your RadioBeats, you and your loved one will receive instructions to set up your special songs

1. First you will set up or link a pre existing Spotify account to the radio

2. Then you will first select 3 special songs to share and one playlist that you can shuffle

3. These will be linked through the Spotify API and can be changed whenever you like

4. Once it is set up you will see your 3 song choices and playlist displayed with their corresponding tap inputs

Sending and receiving music

Tap a specific number of times on the top of the radio to select the song or the playlist you want to send to your loved one

• The radio LED will flash green to confirm that the song has been sent

• The paired radio will display a purple light to indicate they have a song waiting for them

• Your loved one can place their hand on the radio to start the song

• You will receive a blue light confirmation when your loved one is listening to the song

• You can also choose to play the same song in your own radio

From idea to reality

When we first started, we tested our concept by using a capacitive touch sensor with an Arduino to play specific songs through P5. One we had the idea working we were able to have a sense of the interaction and what was working or not. 

However after a little more consideration we realized we wanted the radios to be able to work as standalone IoT devices. As such we pivoted to using Raspberry Pi’s in order to allow the radios to connect via an MQTT server without using a secondary serial to computer connection. Our final radios work by using a capacitive sensor board and running python code on each Raspberry Pi that allows it to subscribe and publish to specific MQTT topics on a server specific to that radio and it’s paired radio.

My partner Gianmarco and I both worked on the preliminary code and logic and then Gianmarco worked on pulling together all the components of the code into the MQTT stucture while I built the radios. Both of us were part of the final presentation and storytelling.

Final Components

2 Raspberry Pi 3

2 Ultrasonic Sensors

2 RGB Leds

2 Capacity Touch Sensors

2 Speakers

Building the radios