Fed up with his neighbors playing reggaeton loudly, an Argentinian programmer decided to improve the situation with a viral invention.
Argentine programmer and artist Roni Bandini’s neighbor loves reggaeton, but he always plays it at odd hours with a Bluetooth speaker near the wall.
While many people might ask their neighbors to turn off the music, Bandini solved the problem in a different way. His goal was to invent a machine called “Reggaeton Be Gone.”
It’s a box with a microphone, a small computer, and an algorithm that detects when a reggaeton song is playing and interferes with the speakers where the song is being played.
Bandini shared his story in a video that went viral. He not only shows how the device works, but also describes how he created it using readily available materials and code he programmed himself.
He claims to have first trained an artificial intelligence (AI) model to specifically recognize reggaeton songs. To do this, he downloaded the genre’s signature tracks and uploaded them to his Edge Impulse, a machine learning development platform.
Once the AI is ready, it’s time for the hardware. The programmer says that to the metal box he added a 3D printed front and a small OLED screen. Inside was a Raspberry Pi 3 loaded with the trained AI model.
To detect music, he added a microphone and wrote Python code to monitor it and send the sound to recognition software.
So what happens if the machine detects reggaeton?
“If the inference exceeds the level of recognition, for example 75% confidence that it is the neighbor’s preferred genre, the machine will send multiple requests and packets. [via Bluetooth] I sent it to the speaker whose MAC address I knew in order to turn it off or at least disrupt the audio,” Bandini explained in a video posted on social media.
His inspiration came from the TV-B-Gone, a universal remote control released in 2004 that allows you to turn off the TV in public places such as shops, bars and waiting rooms. It was created by American hacker and inventor Mitch Altman.
“I understand that it may be illegal to disrupt your neighbor’s speakers, but on the other hand, listening to reggaeton every day at 9 a.m. is definitely illegal,” Bandini said in his social video. You should,” he added.
Although his invention spread rapidly, he refused to turn it into a business.
“I understand that there is a great commercial opportunity to manufacture this device and sell it in large quantities, but as Mr. Bartleby said, “I do not want to do that,” he wrote. Moderate.
If you are interested in programming and want to create your own programs [insert your most hated genre of music] Be Gone, Bandini also posted step by step guide.