Many makers like to integrate Lego into their Raspberry Pi projects, and today we've got a beautiful example to share of such a collaboration. Maker, author and developer Sean McManus is using our favorite SBC to transform a Lego retro radio kit into a working music player that utilizes much of the original hardware for control.
To pull this off, McManus was able to put a full sized Raspberry Pi 3B+ inside the Radio along with some additional hardware to play music. The radio already featured a couple of knobs on the front that are used to play some existing soundbites and radio sounds via dedicated Lego sound brick. In the end, these knobs were incorporated into the final design and used to change songs that play on the Raspberry Pi.
According to McManus, there are already a few ways you could more easily play music from inside the radio. The original design included a place to mount your smartphone but this was ultimately removed so McManus could add the Pi instead. This allows for the radio to not just be a shell but rather an interactive component.
The exact Lego model used for this project is a Lego Retro Radio 10334. Although he initially experimented with a Raspberry Pi Zero W, he ultimately landed on using a Raspberry Pi 3B+ as the main board. It's connected to a Pimoroni Audio Amp SHIM which provides 3W audio output to an integrated speaker.
The code for the project was written from scratch by McManus using Python and is fairly straightforward. It handles input from the knobs and changes audio corresponding with a list of music files saved locally on the Pi. It's programmed to start up automatically when the Pi is powered on. All of this source code has been made open source and is available over at the project page.
If you want to get a closer look at this Raspberry Pi project in action, you can check it out over at Sean McManus's official website where you can find more cool Pi creations.
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Ash Hill is a contributing writer for Tom's Hardware with a wealth of experience in the hobby electronics, 3D printing and PCs. She manages the Pi projects of the month and much of our daily Raspberry Pi reporting while also finding the best coupons and deals on all tech.
