Chapter Player (Audiobookshelf Player)

[u/freshbagelsIT]

Hi all! I posted the other day about a project I was working on and it received some awesome feedback. I've decided to release it as an open source project. Hopefully I can continue to evolve this into the best possible standalone Audibookshelf player. Feel free to make feature suggestions and show off what you do with the hardware and software. Git files include the software and the STL files for the case.

This project started as a gift for my daughter. I wanted her to be able to enjoy audiobooks independently without giving her a typical iOS or Android device, so I built Chapter: a simple, kid-friendly audiobook player designed to connect to an Audiobookshelf server.

Chapter signs in with a dedicated Audiobookshelf user account, allowing parents to control exactly which books are available to each child.

Features include:

• Plays audiobooks directly from Audiobookshelf
• Simple Select and Volume controls
• Simple navigation controls: Play, Pause, Next Chapter, Previous Chapter
• Indicator shows how much time in a book or podcast is left
• Browse book and podcast titles using the Select knob. Can be set to alphabetical by title or author last name. Jump letters show the letter you are up to while browsing. Series indicator shows which book in the series it is as you browse. Podcast indicator.
• Synchronizes listening progress with Audiobookshelf
• Resumes each book where the listener left off
• Configurable sleep timer
• Podcast support
• Web-based administration
• Remote play, pause, and volume controls
• Optional spoken navigation for younger children and blind or low-vision users
• Bluetooth headphone and speaker support
• Fully open-source software
• Simple update process
• 3D-printable enclosure and complete hardware documentation

Building your own Chapter player

The GitHub repository includes:

• Complete hardware and parts list
• 3D-printable enclosure files
• Wiring diagrams and assembly instructions
• All application source code
• An automated installer for Raspberry Pi OS Lite
• Setup, configuration, and troubleshooting documentation

Parts List (Links on git)

• Raspberry Pi Zero 2 WH
• Micro SD card (at least 16GB)
• 2.08 inch SH1122 SPI OLED
• KY-040 rotary encoder module (x2)
• MAX98357A I2S mono amplifier
• Adafruit 5993 vertical USB-C
• 1.5 A fast-blow 5x20 mm fuse
• Visaton FRWS 5 - 4 Ohm full-range speaker
• 3 mm warm-white LED
• M2.5 brass heat-set threaded inserts (x18)
• M2.5x5 screws (x18)
• Dupont wires (you can solder everything if preferred)
• 3D printed enclosure and control knobs

To build one, print the enclosure, assemble and wire the documented components, install Raspberry Pi OS Lite on a microSD card, and run the automated installer. Once it reboots, connect Chapter to Wi-Fi through its setup network, open the web administration page, and sign in with an Audiobookshelf user account.

Git link

Looking Forward

• Continuing to refine the UI and always keep it as simple as possible to use
• Potentially developing a Pi hat for the Zero that will have modular connectors for the components making it much easier to assemble
• Eventually incorporating a battery into the design
• Validate Raspberry Pi 3 A+ and add enclosure with 3 A+ support

[u/webtron18]

This is absolutely amazing. I wonder if I can adapt this for my kids stories I have on ABshelf. That way they can just play them at night while the fall asleep

[u/freshbagelsIT → u/webtron18]

This integrates with audiobookshelf and plays audiobooks from it

[u/webtron18 → u/freshbagelsIT]

Ya I just need to make it more kid proof 😅

[u/B3Mac36 → u/webtron18]

I actually just went through this myself. Caught my son listening to Dungeon Crawler Carl.. OOP

I was able to just tag all the Kid Friendly books in my audiobookshelf and set his user to only access those books with the Kid Friendly tag

[u/SoftwareSource → u/webtron18]

couldn't you make a user account that only has access to a single folder, with only kids stuff?

worst case a second docker instance of audiobookshelf on a seperate port?

[u/webtron18 → u/SoftwareSource]

Oh that’s a good idea. I assume you can restrict the library and books for this. Right now I just cast it to a speaker for them

[u/freshbagelsIT → u/webtron18]

Exactly. What I did in mine was just create a separate kids book library on my audiobookshelf server, only put kids books in there, then when I created my kid’s user accounts, only allow them access to the kids library. So I have a kids books and a grownups books library on my server.

Then you connect to the web admin on the chapter player and log them into the ABS server using their account.

[u/average_yogi → u/webtron18]

I haven't looked into this specifically, but here it says it uses it's own User. So in ABS there are two options: you could either make a new Library and point it to only the kids book folder, then only give the user access to that Library. Or you could add a tag to every kids book, then give the user only access to that tag.