Robotic Third Arm Turns Drummers Into Beat Machines | Popular Science - 2 views
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This robot drum arm comes from Georgia Tech, and was originally designed as a way to help a drummer who had lost an arm.
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Here, the drum arm augments an existing drummer. While the user in question is wearing a headband with sensors, that part of the project isn’t ready yet. Instead, the robot arm is drumming of its own accord, with some awareness of what the human is doing. It listens, and it plays along.
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The robotic arm is smart for a few reasons. First, it knows what to play by listening to the music in the room. It improvises based on the beat and rhythm. For instance, if the musician plays slowly, the arm slows the tempo. If the drummer speeds up, it plays faster. Another aspect of its intelligence is knowing where it’s located at all times, where the drums are, and the direction and proximity of the human arms. When the robot approaches an instrument, it uses built-in accelerometers to sense the distance and proximity. On-board motors make sure the stick is always parallel to the playing surface, allowing it to rise, lower or twist to ensure solid contact with the drum or cymbal. The arm moves naturally with intuitive gestures because it was programmed using human motion capture technology.
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Mechanic arm allows drummers to augment their playing. The arm's technology allows the arm to tune into what the human drummer is doing and follow along. Interesting technology that perhaps could find its way into other areas of music (the three handed piano player, or allowing people with one arm/hand to play instruments formerly difficult to play).
