Argentinian developer Roni Bandini created a Bluetooth blocking device to minimize the annoyance caused by loud music from neighbors. Using a Raspberry Pi, the device is capable of detecting speakers playing reggaeton music.

After identifying these devices, the mini-PC tries to connect to them, which can result in the sound turning off or the music pausing, frustrating the listener to the point of turning off the device.

The choice to focus on reggaeton comes from the prevalence of this musical genre among Bandini's neighbors. In a post on Hackester, where the Reggaeton Be Gone project was shared, Bandini mentions that his neighbor has a habit of playing these songs at high volume

The device itself is quite simple

The Bluetooth jamming device is powered by a Raspberry Pi 3 B+. It is connected to a DFRobot OLED display panel, with a resolution of 128 x 32px. Audio capture is done via a USB microphone, and a trigger button is responsible for determining when the system should perform a check to detect the presence of reggaeton.

According to Bandini, the Pi operates with the Raspberry Pi OS operating system. The AI system underpinning the machine learning aspects of the project is Edge Impulse. This allowed Bandini to train the Raspberry Pi to recognize music and, more specifically, identify whether the song being played can be classified as reggaeton or not.

For now, it's just a prototype

However, Bandini emphasizes that the project is a prototype and recommends that interested parties consult local laws before implementing or using Reggaeton Be Gone, considering that the device interferes with other people's privacy — even in cases of noise disturbance.

The technical challenge of the project involved the use of artificial intelligence for the Raspberry Pi to identify the reggaeton genre. Bandini noted that AI repositories and models for music, like GTZAN, do not include this specific genre. So, he turned to machine learning to develop a model capable of identifying reggaeton.

As is common in personal initiatives, Reggaeton Be Gone has its limitations. It is not effective with all Bluetooth speakers and may require the “target” speaker to be positioned close to the Raspberry Pi to function properly. And this may be unfeasible in some situations.

In my case, I don't think distance would be a problem. And I say more! If it were me, I would program the device to identify not just a specific genre, but any song that exceeds a certain decibel volume.