2020 project - Card Music Box

2020 project idea

This was my initial project description for 2020.

Project idea - inspiration and description

As a music enthousiast I started to search ideas related to that and found something I liked. It’s a “Card reader Jukebox”.


Not only it can be a good looking device (if made with quality material) but it’s also an excellent and easy way to

  • show your music collection to friends
  • let them choose something
  • let them make their playlist
  • interact with the music
  • talk about souvenirs (“Do you remember this album / artist ?”)

And without the need for a mobile, tablet or laptop to browse your collection.
It lets you play music in an old fashion way, by manipulating a physical support (cards), just like we were used with vinyls, K7, MiniDisc and CD.

Project research

I found a few similar projects using different type of input cards that were worth reading.
Some are RFID based, others are QRcode or even Barecode based.

I like the QRcode approach best because the card production is cheap.

Cards can represent

  • a song title
  • an entire album
  • a playlist
  • an action (next track in a playlist for ex.)

Exemple of cards used by the QRocodile

A song card :

Some action cards :

Project goal

I really like the QRocodile.
And the kids seem to like it aswell on that video :

But it connects to a commercial speaker system (Sonos) and I don’t want that.
I’d like to be able to play the cards either on

  • an internal speaker
  • or my old home hi-fi system

To make it short I’d like to build something like this but to decode QRcode instead, in the same way the QRocodile does.

These 2 sources of inspiration will have to be mixed.

Project sketch

Here is a rapid sketch I've made showing the final look I’d like to achieve.
It could be made from scratch or maybe just implemented in a ready-made old speaker.

Project CAD

MusiCard V0.1

This is the first model I've made :

MusiCard V0.2

I decided to make it a bit more complex by adding sliding doors to the card drawers:
The door will be made out of 3mm wood with partially cutted lines allowing it to retract and bend back in the groove.
I don't know if it will work and tests will have to be made on a smaller scale beforehand just to make sure...




MusiCard V0.3

Why not implement some extra manual (physical) controls?
Maybe a third version with
  • an "On/Off" switch
  • a "Volume" knob
  • "Previous" and "Next" songs buttons
This way it will involve more electronics which is what I really need to learn.