boxie player

Boxie – A Gameboy-Esque Audio Player

This little audiobook player is a stellar example of the learning process behind a multifaceted project blending mechanical, electrical, and software design. [Mario] designed this audiobook player, dubbed Boxie, for his 3-year-old son to replace the often-used but flawed Toniebox.

The inspiration for Boxie was the Toniebox, a kid-friendly audiobook player. While functional, the Toniebox had drawbacks: it required internet connectivity, limited media selection, and had unreliable controls. Enter Boxie, a custom-built, standalone audiobook player free from web services, designed to address these issues with superior audio quality and toddler-friendly controls.

Boxie’s media is stored on microSD cards inserted into a slot on the device. To make this manageable for a toddler, he designed a PCB with a standard microSD card interface, ensuring easy swapping of audiobooks. The enclosure, crafted via 3D printing, is durable and compact, tailored for small hands.

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PLCC Replaces Game Boy Cartridge ROM

[Gerry] sent us pictures and a few details on replacing the Game Boy cartridge chip with a flash chip. For the prototype he used a PLCC and a little wire porn to interface a flash chip with the cartridge’s PCB while still having access to it for programming. In retrospect he plans to use a 32-pin ZIF socket on the next version to make things easier. It does work and he’s had some success loading his own code and getting it to run. There are other cartridge hacks that let you load code onto a cartridge but if you have the knowhow and the parts this makes for a fun weekend project. We’ve posted the rest of the photos that [Gerry] sent us after the break.

Update: Gerry is working on a video and a pinout. We’ll post info once we get a hold of it.

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