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Photo from Guy Dupont
Tech innovator Guy Dupont took bumper stickers to the next level, crafting a quirky gadget that turns your car into a rolling playlist billboard. His “Bumpin’ Sticker” doesn’t just stick—it streams your current jams in real-time, powered by a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and a Particle Boron board, making your commute as entertaining as it is tech-savvy.
The idea stemmed from Dupont’s frustration that static stickers, while humorous, didn’t reflect people’s music preferences in real-time. His version solved this by providing a live update of the driver’s current playlist.
“I had kind of fallen in love with this bumper sticker meme format where it would say ‘Keep honking, I’m listening to blank,’ where blank is some very specific, even esoteric piece of music or otherwise funny thing to be listening to in your car,” Dupont explained in his vlog documenting the process of making the device. “And at the risk of taking the joke a bit too far, I recently decided to up the ante and put my real, unfiltered musical preferences on display for the whole world to see.”
The Bumpin’ Sticker used an 11.3-inch, 440 x 1920 pixel HDMI display. The Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W and Particle Boron board combo then allowed the device to connect to the internet via cellular networks, ensuring it could update the displayed song regardless of location.
The device scraped Dupont’s public Last.fm profile to find out what he was currently listening to. This information was then transmitted to the Raspberry Pi via Bluetooth, which generated a PNG image to display on the screen.
One of the challenges Dupont faced was ensuring the device was weatherproof and securely attached to the vehicle. The components were encased in a heat-shrink wrap for protection, with a window cut out to expose the screen. Powerful magnets also kept the device in place on the back of the car.
The Bumpin’ Sticker was powered by tapping into the car’s backup camera power source. This ensured the device only operated when the car was running, preventing it from draining the vehicle’s battery when not in use.
The project garnered attention online, with people praising its creativity and humor. Dupont shared the build details and source code on GitHub, inviting others to replicate or modify the project.
This project was a reminder that technology could be used to add a bit of fun to everyday life or, in this instance, help with road rage.
