Maybe it is a bit out of the topic, but if you can use three MAX72xx, this tutorial makes it really easy: http://www.pjrc.com/teensy/td_libs_Matrix.html

I am using it for a project I'm working on and it's worth spending the money on the MAX7219.

Thanks ABC-King. I had read about that router and also about the one from FON, laFonera, that is pretty cheap (30 euro I think) and can also be connected to the serial port of the arduino. However, that's not gonna work for the project I'm working on. It has to have audio output, otherwise I'll need a computer to play the streamed audio and I don't think any of those routers will have it.

I'll end up using something like that if I can't get the embedded linux to work, in that case just using bluetooth or xbee to send the commands to the computer would be enough. At least that would let me have a wireless working prototype.

Anyways, share the code, I'm sure somebody else will be happy about it!

I totally understand. And yes, the API works with a command line interface. It's exactly the way you understood it, just that I had no idea if it would be something too complex or not.

I will try to get in touch with somebody that can help out with that part and give it a try. Anyways, thanks for the info.

The problem is that I've no idea on how to do that..  :'(

Do you think it'd be that easy to help me with that? Maybe we can talk on Skype and I can give you more details about it. I'm doing it in collaboration with a company and can't reveal much about it yet.

I'll send you my skype id via DM.

Hi,

I'm looking for somebody with experience programming embedded linux boards for a project I'll be working on until december. I'm an industrial designer with some arduino experience, but to make it happen for real I'd need some help. Otherwise I'd have to "fake" it and it would be nice to finish it properly.

The project has to do with an internet radio and it will last until december. At this moment, with my arduino skills I'll need a computer either to stream the music from an API written in C or using AppleScript to control what do I want the computer to play. That's ok, but if somebody wants to join me, we can work together and build something more decent.

The hardware interface I have in mind is something very simple and it would send serial commands to the computer to do whatever it has to do. Play a specific uri, pause, volume change... The arduino can control the hardware interface and just trigger the actions to be done by the embedded linux board, that should be connected wirelessly to the wifi at home.

My main problem is that I have no Linux experience at all and I don't really know how complicated would that be. It might be something really simple for somebody that knows about it, or maybe is something not really feasible at all and I'm considering something impossible to do.

So, if there's anybody out there that has any experience with embedded linux boards and would like to know more about the project, please let me know so we can talk more about it. I'm not considering learning linux for that, I'd rather work with somebody that knows how to do it.

And well, once everything is finished, I'd love to release it under an open source license or maybe even build a few of them. It can be a really nice thing...

If you're interested, please get in touch!

Thanks Adrian.

Polochon, I think it would be a good idea too, but I'm afraid I don't know how to help out with the project. I'm designer and I use Arduino just for prototyping design proposals. I don't think my skills are good enough to work on a protocol. What's the status of the project right now? Do you have any github or google code site started? It'd be great to follow what comes next.

Besides that, I think the simplest and more accessible way at the moment is some kind of FM transmitter receiver. They're fairly cheap, there's no software side or need to setup anything… just plug it in and it's good to go. But I know, the sound quality isn't great.

My starting point was working on something like this to avoid the need of a computer/phone for listening to Spotify. For the prototype I need one (I can't run Spotify in the Arduino itself), I just want to show the feel of using it. A device like this could be connected to the stereo system and controlled from the phone too…

Anyways, I'd love to follow up on your project. It sounds interesting and I might be able to help somehow!

Cheers,

Hi guys,

I'm an industrial design student in Umea, Sweden, and this is a working prototype of my degree project. I've been working on this for a while. It's basically a Spotify box. I can link different RFID tags to Spotify links or searches, so you can have your own physical collection of playlists and music.

The two small buttons skip to the previos/next track, the big knob controls the volume and the RFID tags are placed on it. There's a small magnet in the knob and a metallic part in the RFID tags, so they stick to it without falling.

The sketch uses AppleScript to control Spotify: it opens a Spotify link or performs a search and uses the keyboard shortcuts to control what's playing. It's still a work in progress, the three led matrix will be used to display battery status, track info, maybe it will display the time when it's not in use… There're still a few things to decide.

I'm planning on working on the UI for tagging music too, so the RFID id's and the spotify links can be stored in a xml file locally, this way the processing side of the prototype can access the xml to play whatever is assigned to each tag. Right now, I've to assign music manually within the Processing sketch.

I'll upload all the code once I'm done with it, I'll be presenting everything in one month and I still have a lot of stuff to finish, so by then I'll hopefully be able to share some drawings of how it's build to let others build their own.

So far, this is what I've got:








I'm keeping a project log here: http://blog.zenona.com
and a flickr set: http://www.flickr.com/photos/parrita/sets/72157625436664189/

Enjoy!
Merry christmas!!