This has been making the blog-o-rounds, but if you haven’t seen it, the Yellow Drum Machine is a brilliant musical robot — brilliantly musical, and brilliantly simply technologically. (There’s something to be said for elegant design.) It rolls around, looks for objects nearby, bangs on them, and samples that sound. (Hmm, it’s like a little robotic equivalent of me around my apartment.) As seen on MAKE.
The specs are terrific:
- Cost to build: $120
- Time to build: 20 hours
- Actuators / output devices: 6 geared motors in total, 2 speakers, sound sampler
- Control method: autonomous (very)
- CPU: Picaxe 28
- Operating system: Picaxe basic
- Power source: 4 AA batteries
- Programming language: Picaxe basic
- Sensors / input devices: SRF05, microphone
- Target environment: where ever there is something to play on
By “fritsl” — fritsl, if you’re out there (or anyone else), want to let us in on who you are?
Previously:
Robot Drummers, Compared: Like Musicians, Robots are Better When They Listen
Robot Drummer Responds to Human Playing; How They Did It (speaking of which, Gil and company at Georgia Tech, perhaps it’s time for a Haile Mobile?)
Got something cool like this and can get to San Francisco in April? I hope you’re entering our competition!