Казкар means “storyteller” in Ukrainian.
Казкар is a three-button audio player built around an Arduino Uno, a microSD card module, an 8Ω speaker, and a custom LightBurn-designed enclosure cut from 3.0 mm MDF board. It was designed as a child-friendly, screen-free listening device for audiobooks and spoken-word audio without menus, apps, or extra interface clutter.
This project is one of my early embedded/electronics integration milestones: it combines removable media playback, physical controls, enclosure design, and portable power into one working standalone object.
Many audio devices for children assume a screen, a complicated UI, or access to a phone or tablet. Казкар was an attempt to make something narrower and more deliberate:
- three physical buttons
- direct speaker playback
- no screen
- no app
- simple, repeatable interaction
The goal was not to create a polished consumer product on the first try. The goal was to make a real working device that solved a narrow problem with simple hardware and firmware.
Part of the point was cultural as well as technical: many children today do not recognize what a radio is, let alone how to use a listening-first device with no screen. Казкар uses modern components—microSD storage, Arduino control, and USB power—to recreate a much older mode of interaction: press a button, listen, follow the story by ear. The, enclosure was, therefore, intentionally designed to resemble an antique radio.
The larger goal was to encourage auditory attention and listening skills without relying on visuals. A lot of current entertainment and educational media assumes a screen, a menu, or some other visual anchor. Казкар moves in the opposite direction. It is built around sound, memory, sequence, and spoken storytelling.
Казкар plays WAV audio files from a microSD card and uses three front-panel buttons for basic navigation:
- Red — Play/Pause
- White — Previous
- Green — Next
The final physical layout matches the finished enclosure:
- speaker at the top
- red play/pause centered below the speaker
- white previous at the lower left
- green next at the lower right
The current firmware uses:
D5— Play/PauseD6— NextD7— PreviousD9— speaker outputD4— microSD chip selectD11/D12/D13— SPI for the microSD module
- Arduino Uno
- microSD card module over SPI
- 3 large momentary pushbuttons with plastic housings/caps
- 8Ω speaker, 70 mm diameter
- 3.0 mm MDF enclosure panels
- 2200 mAh USB power bank for normal portable use
On startup the sketch initializes the SD card, sets the playback volume, and begins with song1.wav. The Play/Pause button toggles playback, the Next button advances to the next numbered track, and the Previous button returns to the prior numbered track.
The uploaded sketch configures:
pp = 5next = 6prev = 7speakerPin = 9SD_ChipSelectPin = 4
The device uses TMRpcm for WAV playback. The current implementation expects sequentially named WAV files on the microSD card:
song1.wavsong2.wavsong3.wav- ...
song11.wav
Казкар evolved through three visible stages:
- breadboard proof of concept
- temporary plastic-box integration
- final laser-cut MDF enclosure
That progression matters to the project: it shows the move from a working circuit to a usable physical object.
For my portfolio, Казкар is an embedded/electronics milestone rather than just “an Arduino project” or a finished commercial product. It demonstrates:
- firmware tied to real hardware inputs and outputs
- a constrained, child-friendly physical interface
- removable media playback without a screen
- enclosure design as part of the engineering process
- iteration from breadboard prototype to finished object
- deliberate design around auditory rather than visual attention
.
├── firmware/
│ └── 3-button_player.ino
├── hardware/
│ ├── fritzing/
│ │ ├── kazkar_wiring_diagram.fzz
│ │ └── README.md
│ └── lightburn/
│ └── kazkar_design.lbrn2
└── docs/
├── ASSEMBLY.md
├── BILL_OF_MATERIALS.md
├── ELECTRONICS.md
├── ENCLOSURE.md
├── SCHEMATIC.md
└── img/
This project is open source and available under the MIT License.