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This one is for the Spotify people. We’ve created a small project that makes use of the Arduino and LCD Keypad shield to create a Spotify remote control. This will show the current playing song as well as adding Play/Pause, Prev and Next functionality to it.
Check out the quick YouTube video at the bottom of this page.
The remote is made from a VB.NET application that listens on a select COM port for commands, it also broadcasts the current playing song via the COM port to the Arduino.
You could add a Bluetooth module to this (described in our previous article here) to make it completely wireless, which would be really cool.
So, what’s needed?
- 1x Arduino
- 1x Arduino LCD/Keypad Shield
- Visual Studio for the .NET Application
- Spotify Installed
We’ll begin by creating the Arduino sketch. What we need to do is the following:
- Read the Serial Port and look for incoming characters that make up the current song.
- Listen for button presses and Serial.println() commands.
- Display the current song on the LCD (with Scrolling Text)
These three tasks are actually really simple to do; most of the hard work will be on the .NET application side that sends commands to Spotify. Take a look at the Arduino Sketch below:
The Arduino Sketch
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>
LiquidCrystal lcd(8, 9, 4, 5, 6, 7);
String inData;
String currentSong;
String lastSong;
typedef struct Timer {
unsigned long tStart;
unsigned long tTimeout;
};
bool tCheck (struct Timer *timer ) {
if (millis() > timer->tStart + timer->tTimeout)
return true;
return false;
}
void tRun (struct Timer *timer) {
timer->tStart = millis();
}
//Tasks and their Schedules.
Timer t_updateLCD = {0, 3500}; //Run every 2 seconds.
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
lcd.begin(16, 2);
}
void loop() {
//Call the main menu.
mainMenu();
while (Serial.available() > 0) {
char recieved = Serial.read();
inData += recieved;
// Process message when new line character is recieved
if (recieved == '\n') {
Serial.print("Arduino Received: ");
Serial.print(inData);
currentSong = inData;
inData = ""; // Clear recieved buffer
}
}
//Update LCD.
if (tCheck(&t_updateLCD)) {
lcd.clear();
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
lcd.print("Playing:");
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
int index = 0;
int len = (currentSong.length() - 2);
for (int i=0; i<len;i++) {
if (index == 16) {
lcd.setCursor(0,1);
lcd.print(" "); //Clear line
index = 0;
delay(200);
}
lcd.setCursor(index,1);
lcd.print(currentSong[i]);
delay(150);
index++;
}
lastSong = currentSong;
tRun(&t_updateLCD);
}
}
void mainMenu() {
int x = analogRead (0);
lcd.setCursor(0,0);
//Check analog values from LCD Keypad Shield
if (x < 100) {
//Right
Serial.println("next|");
} else if (x < 200) {
//Up
//Not assigned yet. Add commands here.
} else if (x < 400){
//Down
} else if (x < 600){
//Left
Serial.println("prev|");
} else if (x < 800){
//Select
Serial.println("pause|");
}
delay(50);
}The Arduino refreshes the LCD Screen every 3500ms. This is optional but it seemed better that it was constantly scrolling instead of just static text; moving text seems less boring!
As far as the Arduino code is concerned; that’s all there is to it. We’ll now move over to Visual Studio and get started with the application we have put together. The actual Spotify control class is by a person named Steffest who released this back in 2009 – We can’t really give you much more than that, as there is no website for this code.
You can download the Project Code by clicking here. (it is also posted below)
The .NET Application
Imports System.IO
Imports System.IO.Ports
Imports System.Threading
Public Class Form1
Dim currentSong As String
Dim buffer As String
Delegate Sub myMethodDelegate(ByVal [text] As String)
Dim hdlD As New myMethodDelegate(AddressOf processCommand)
Dim WithEvents SerialPort As New IO.Ports.SerialPort
Dim p() As Process
Private Sub Form1_Disposed(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Disposed
If SerialPort.IsOpen() Then
SerialPort.Close()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
ni.Visible = False
GetSerialPortNames()
End Sub
Sub GetSerialPortNames()
For Each sp As String In My.Computer.Ports.SerialPortNames
lstPorts.Items.Add(sp)
Next
End Sub
Sub SendSerialData(ByVal Port As String, ByVal data As String)
If (SerialPort.IsOpen) Then
SerialPort.Write(data)
Else
MsgBox("Not connected to Port.")
End If
End Sub
Sub processCommand(ByVal myString As String)
buffer = buffer + myString
Dim str As String
str = buffer
If InStr(str, "|") Then
Dim words As String() = str.Split(New Char() {"|"})
buffer = ""
Dim word As String
For Each word In words
If (word.Length > 0) Then
Dim Spotify As New spotify()
Select Case word
Case "prev"
Spotify.PlayPrev()
lstConsole.Items.Add("Play previous song.")
Case "next"
Spotify.PlayNext()
lstConsole.Items.Add("Play next song.")
Case "pause"
Spotify.PlayPause()
lstConsole.Items.Add("Spotify paused.")
Case Else
' We received an Unknown command. Deal with it.
' lstConsole.Items.Add("Received: " & word)
End Select
End If
Next
End If
End Sub
Private Sub SerialPort_DataReceived(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.IO.Ports.SerialDataReceivedEventArgs) Handles SerialPort.DataReceived
Dim str As String = SerialPort.ReadExisting()
Invoke(hdlD, str)
End Sub
Private Sub Button3_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs)
Application.Exit()
If SerialPort.IsOpen Then
SerialPort.Close()
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Timer1_Tick(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Timer1.Tick
checkSongStatus()
End Sub
Private Sub checkSongStatus()
p = Process.GetProcessesByName("Spotify")
If p.Count > 0 Then
lblStatus.Text = "Spotify is running."
Dim Spotify As New spotify()
If Spotify.Nowplaying() <> currentSong Then
currentSong = Spotify.Nowplaying()
If currentSong = "" Or currentSong = "Paused." Then
lstConsole.Items.Add("Spotify Paused.")
Else
lstConsole.Items.Add("Song changed to: " & currentSong)
If (SerialPort.IsOpen()) Then
SerialPort.Write(currentSong & vbCrLf)
End If
End If
End If
Else
lblStatus.Text = "Spotify is NOT running."
End If
End Sub
Private Sub Form1_SizeChanged(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles MyBase.SizeChanged
If Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized Then
Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Minimized
Me.Visible = False
Me.ni.Visible = True
End If
End Sub
Private Sub ni_Click(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) _
Handles ni.Click
Me.Visible = True
Me.WindowState = FormWindowState.Normal
Me.ni.Visible = False
End Sub
Private Sub btnConnect_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnConnect.Click
If lstPorts.SelectedIndex <> -1 Then
Try
If SerialPort.IsOpen Then
SerialPort.Close()
btnConnect.Text = "Connect"
Else
SerialPort.PortName = lstPorts.SelectedItem.ToString
SerialPort.BaudRate = 9600
SerialPort.DataBits = 8
SerialPort.Parity = Parity.None
SerialPort.StopBits = StopBits.One
SerialPort.Handshake = Handshake.None
SerialPort.Encoding = System.Text.Encoding.Default
SerialPort.Open()
btnConnect.Text = "Disconnect"
End If
Catch ex As Exception
MsgBox(ex.Message)
End Try
Else
MsgBox("Please choose a serial port", vbInformation, "Serial Port")
End If
End Sub
End ClassThe application works by listening and sending information on the same COM port as the Arduino. The application listens for 3 commands (play/plause, prev, next) once these get detected they send the relevant command over to the Spotify application. Information about the current song is then sent to the COM port and received by the Arduino, which outputs this to the attached LCD screen.
Once the application is loaded and in use it should look like the below:
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
As you can see, the only options you have is to select a COM port (this should be the Arduino’s COM port) and a Connect/Disconnect button. That’s it! – The console window at the bottom updates in realtime as to what is getting sent/received from the Arduino.
Check out the YouTube video of this in operation: (apologies for the quality, it’s the phone camera again!)
It’s actually quite fun to play around with; this would look great sat on the desk with an enclosure made for it.
That’s it for now, if you have any comments, questions or suggestions then please feel free to comment below or send us a message using the contact us page.
Have fun!