An Arduino-powered robotic ukulele that performs itself

The ukulele has a little bit of a fame for being quaint, however it’s a reputable instrument like every other and which means it takes a whole lot of apply to play competently. Zeroshot is simply too busy constructing cool stuff to hassle with all of that, so he put his abilities to make use of setting up this robotic ukulele that performs itself.

Like a guitarist, a ukulelist can play a notice by strumming a number of strings directly or by choosing particular person strings. Extra unique strategies are additionally doable, however unusual and outdoors the scope of this mission. The important thing to Zeroshot’s design is the mechanism that may each choose and strum. It does so by utilizing two actuators: a servo motor to carry and drop the choose, and a stepper to slip the choose forwards and backwards perpendicular to the strings.

An Arduino UNO Rev3 board controls these motors by way of a HiLetgo L293D motor protect, with a TMC2208 driver module for the stepper. The Arduino can decrease the choose and strum it throughout the entire strings, or it could actually transfer to a selected string and pluck simply that one. 

However it will be restricted to solely a handful of songs if it may solely play open strings, so Zeroshot additionally wanted so as to add {hardware} to carry the strings down on the fretboard. He selected solenoids for that job, held in a 3D-printed mount. With energy coming from the motor protect, the Arduino can lengthen the solenoids to play any required notes.

Zeroshot designed the mount to accommodate as much as 16 solenoids, for the primary 4 frets throughout the 4 strings. When together with open strings, that will give the robotic as much as 20 notes to work with. However a whole lot of songs solely require a handful of solenoids, as Zeroshot demonstrated by performing Celine Dion’s “My Coronary heart Will Go On.”