This Robot Plays with Mechanical Perfection on Any Guitar
Bring the concert home with this Arduino-powered robot that attaches to any guitar to play your favorite tracks with mechanical perfection.
Today’s high-quality microphones and speakers can capture and reproduce sounds with remarkable fidelity. Even so, listening to a recorded track doesn’t sound quite the same as a live performance. It can be hard to put your finger on exactly what’s different, but recordings are definitely missing a certain je ne sais quoi.
Redditor MegCell came up with an interesting way to bring the experience of a live performance home: a guitar-playing robot. Designed to work with almost any guitar, the robot attaches to the instrument in about three minutes and is programmed via a smartphone app. From there, it plays with mechanical perfection, never missing a note.
The robot is powered by an Arduino microcontroller that actuates a series of servos. These servos press on or strum the strings on command. The hardware is housed in an elaborate 3D-printed mechanism that interfaces it with the guitar.
The project is not (yet) open source, but MegCell is working to make a more DIY-friendly version, at which point 3D design files and firmware will be shared with the community. In the course of this work, MegCell also intends to improve the robot’s playing abilities and reduce the noise that it makes. Be sure to stay tuned to Hackster News for the latest updates on this interesting build.