Build a Qwiic Jukebox that is Toddler Approved!

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Contributors: QCPete
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Introduction

In this tutorial, we will guide you through how to make your very own jukebox. This project is intended to be used for toddlers, but can also serve as a great learning tool for any future audio or RFID projects. It is Qwiic-based, and so does not require soldering. For an overview of the project, please check out the following video:

Attention: If you plan to build the optional Crafty Binary Cards feature, then you will need additional materials and tools. You will also want to review some additional literature. For more information, see the Crafty Binary Cards (Optional) section below.

Required Materials

To follow along with this tutorial, you will need the following materials. You may not need everything though depending on what you have. Add it to your cart, read through the guide, and adjust the cart as necessary.

Note: If you plan to build this up without any soldering, you will want to use some of our alligator to pig-tail connectors. These will connect from the terminals on the buttons to the IO female headers on the RedBoard Qwiic. Some of the pictures in this tutorial have the button connections made with wires soldered directly to the button terminals. This is because mine were used in a previous project. Alligator to header-pin connectors will work just the same.

Tools

Wiring up the electronics actually requires no tools at all, but depending on what you decide to do for your enclosure, you may need some general crafting tools. These could include scissors, hobby knife, Velcro tape, Scotch tape, and hot glue.

Although in this tutorial we will be showing a custom enclosure (with bent acrylic and a faceplate), the jukebox could very easily be housed in a cardboard box.

Suggested Reading

You are more than welcome to jump right into this project and learn from the code provided here, but if you'd like to do some reading and/or prototyping ahead of time, it couldn't hurt to check out the products involved and their individual hookup guides. Also, if this is your first time working with Arduino, we highly recommend checking out the Installing Arduino IDE to get you up and running.

Installing Arduino IDE

A step-by-step guide to installing and testing the Arduino software on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Button and Switch Basics

A tutorial on electronics' most overlooked and underappreciated component: the switch! Here we explain the difference between momentary and maintained switches and what all those acronyms (NO, NC, SPDT, SPST, ...) stand for.

RFID Basics

Dive into the basics of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology.

RedBoard Qwiic Hookup Guide

This tutorial covers the basic functionality of the RedBoard Qwiic. This tutorial also covers how to get started blinking an LED and using the Qwiic system.

SparkFun Qwiic RFID-IDXXLA Hookup Guide

The Qwiic RFID ID-XXLA is an I2C solution that pairs with the ID-LA modules: ID-3LA, the ID-12LA, or the ID-20LA, and utilizes 125kHz RFID chips. Let's take a look at the hardware used for this tutorial.

Qwiic MP3 Trigger Hookup Guide

Playing MP3s has never been easier.