Author Topic: Robot that can play a guitar? (Read 4024 times)

robotwannabe · « **on:** March 29, 2008, 03:07:35 AM »

our group has planned on pursuing this project and we're planning to propose this as our undergraduate thesis. we're planning to create a robot that can play a guitar independently, wherein you just need to input chords, musical scores or tabs in your program then the robot will be able to play it. this robot will be able to play basic major and minor guitar chords and can do both strumming and plucking. I just want to hear comments from you guys. what do u think of this project? also how should we implement this and what necessary devices, motors, things we will be needing in making this? what can be the significance and future applications of making this project? what kind of program can we use here? and what kind of controller device do we need? thank you in advance... i would to ask you, what would you think will be the real essence of doing this project? the significance and importance of doing this?

any suggestion on the electronics part?

DC-Electronics · « **Reply #1 on:** March 29, 2008, 03:25:07 AM »

Thats a neat idea. I think it would be possible. I cant really help you to much with the technical stuff as that REAALLY isnt my area, but I can toss an idea or two out. If the playing of the guitar doesn't work out, You could always haxor an old guitar tuner into the bot, make it tune your guitar instead of play it, or on top of playing it

As a one time musician, I must bring up the point, Can a machine really replicate the heart and soul that goes into playing an instrument like guitar? Thats my question for you

But hey, if cats can play piano, why cant bots play guitar

Heres my Cat Piano reference lol
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v0zgQAp7EYw[/youtube]

benji · « **Reply #2 on:** March 29, 2008, 07:07:25 AM »

hey,, this is awsome if its dont correctly,, nice project to choose
here are some thoughts

right hand:
to make the bot able to play some hard complicated classical note then its either you make one super fast picker,or 5 pickers(like fingers)
i dont know what approach you're goin for but i would recommend you the first one as it easier to build.

about the left hand:
here you surely need five fingers to hold some complicated chords

strumming:
this is the easiest thing i guess ,, you just pass the picker at all strings while holding a chord
but make sure to have some smooth pass,, not to cut the strings
you can make this by using a servo and a low torque one would be better.

soloing:
1/hold the string using the left hand
2/pick it using the right hand picker
repeat this in a loop

you can do more than holding and picking only one string at a time.

i guess the hardest thing in this is building the left hand and they way you should move its fingers
as each finger should have a corresponding motor i guess,, steppers would do here as the guitar frets are just steps

good luck with your project

robotwannabe · « **Reply #3 on:** March 29, 2008, 08:52:13 AM »

thanks for the comment. more or less, we have similar ideas on making this one. and i agree that the left hand part is harder than the strumming part. Although, for the strumming part, i still find some problems like if you do a particular strumming pattern, like down down down up up, if a solenoid is installed their with a pick, the pick should be lifted so that it wont produce the upward motion when a down motion is triggered, and must continue the downward motion again. I thought of using 2 doube acting solenoids for the strumming part, to solve this problem. is this solution justifiable? do you have other solutions for this? thanks again..

robotwannabe · « **Reply #4 on:** March 29, 2008, 08:57:39 AM »

that would be another topic i assume...haha..we are also planning to integrate the tuning part to our project but only after we made and perfected the playing part. that one is reserved for the latter part..hehe

benji · « **Reply #5 on:** March 29, 2008, 09:08:49 AM »

there could be a million solutions to this one,, just go with the one that suits you better and you find easier to make

maybe using a servo to control the hand position is good (hand takes 2 positions,1/string touch 2/no touch with strings)
this way your servo goes between only 2 angles, which is easy to implement

DC-Electronics · « **Reply #6 on:** March 29, 2008, 05:12:41 PM »

Lol well if you need any motors or parts just let me know. You to can partake in my SOR discount, even with your double posting ways

haha

robotwannabe · « **Reply #7 on:** March 30, 2008, 02:29:26 AM »

a ok ok..you got a point.. do you have other suggestions on how to do this project? maybe in the field of programming, other components you can suggest in the mechanical and electronics field of this project? and what do you think can this project bring? meaning what is the significance of making this, th importance or the application of this? thanks...

robotwannabe · « **Reply #8 on:** March 30, 2008, 02:33:17 AM »

sorry for the double postings..im not really sure at first where to post this query..haha.because this project needs all those disciplines.. anyway, whats your location? and how can i order from you? what other things can you suggest regarding the electronics, mechanical and programming field of this project? any other suggestions on what components to use?

cooldog · « **Reply #9 on:** March 30, 2008, 09:32:20 AM »

look at his signiture for his ebay page

benji · « **Reply #10 on:** March 30, 2008, 12:06:31 PM »

Quote

maybe in the field of programming

just do it with the language easier for you,if its me i would do it in embedded C.

Quote

and what do you think can this project bring? meaning what is the significance of making this, th importance or the application of this?

pretty much awsome.....
this thing can help bigginers to play the guitar as they can see this perform slowly and imitate it
try to make it happen cuz if its done correctly it would be a big one

pomprocker · « **Reply #11 on:** March 30, 2008, 02:49:13 PM »

I'm a guitarist, and I don't recommend implementing different strumming styles at this point. (like reggae or swing) I recommend you stick to the KISS principle here. The chords would just look at the guitar strings/frets as like multidimensional arrays or vectors, and then just fill them with boolean bits. But make sure there are no more than 4 boolean bits, and they can't be too far apart for a hand. =D

for the strumming, don't worry about rhythm or style, just do pluck or no pluck for an array from 0-5

robotwannabe · « **Reply #12 on:** March 30, 2008, 07:34:22 PM »

can you elaborate on the KISS principle? im not very familiar with it. i only know the basics of playing a guitar but not very good at it. so your saying that we should implement one strumming style only? we're not actually gonna do a robot hand..but more of a mechanical hand composed of solenoids. and we want to focus more on the strumming part coz we havent seen any existing guitar robots that can do strumming, then we'l follow up on the plucking...

pomprocker · « **Reply #13 on:** March 31, 2008, 12:48:25 AM »

K.I.S.S. - google it!

Admin · « **Reply #14 on:** April 06, 2008, 10:38:35 AM »

There are a lot of guitar playing robots on youtube already, just search around.

ps - DO NOT TRIPLE POST!!!

robotwannabe · « **Reply #15 on:** April 12, 2008, 12:19:07 PM »

sorry for the triple post, i not sure where to place my topic that's why i have multiply posts..anyway, may i ask, what components, materials, devices do i need for this project? what king of motors to use, kind of controllers? any suggestions? and how much each of those cost? thanks..

benji · « **Reply #16 on:** April 12, 2008, 03:08:52 PM »

Quote

what king of motors to use, kind of controllers?

you can use servos for strumming or geared dc

anycontroller would do,in case you want to interpret musical notes into real playing i guess its better to use a pc.

Quote

and how much each of those cost?

check the robotics selling websites over the net for prices

robotwannabe · « **Reply #17 on:** April 15, 2008, 04:19:26 AM »

ok ok..thanks.. btw, may i ask..what other kind of mechanism or any other idea for the strumming part? another thing, what kind of design should we implement for this project? i mean the structure of this robot? thanks

kd5kfl · « **Reply #18 on:** April 16, 2008, 07:19:02 PM »

Quote

can you elaborate on the KISS principle?

paint your face black and white, wear way-too-tight spandex and lick your eyebrows a lot.

musical ability less important than showmanship

Admin · « **Reply #19 on:** April 25, 2008, 07:28:16 AM »

robotwannabe, I recommend sitting down with pencil/paper (or even better, use CAD) and just try out various designs. Designing your own robot is a skill you need to ummm . . . build robots

Besides, a design is much more useful than a parts list - if I say buy 3 resistors and a capacitor, that has zero meaning to you! What you really need is a design, and the parts list is simple to determine after that . . .

Remember, only you can build your robot

We are just here to guide you and help you when you are stuck.

robotwannabe · « **Reply #20 on:** April 26, 2008, 08:49:46 PM »

if you estimate the cost of production for this project, how much do you think it will cost us? rough estimate only..also, what good thesis title can you suggest? thanks..

benji · « **Reply #21 on:** April 27, 2008, 03:14:41 AM »

Quote

what good thesis title can you suggest?

electric Clapton ,,,

Admin · « **Reply #22 on:** April 27, 2008, 01:49:34 PM »

Does the cost estimate include the guitar?

I tell people to typically expect any difficult robot project with many parts to cost from $300 to $600. I recommend sitting down with an excel sheet and adding up the costs of everything.

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Author Topic: Robot that can play a guitar? (Read 4024 times)

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