Fullscreen HTML5Med Res (??MB)HTML4

Robot-Operated Clarinet from NICTA/UNSW wins international competition A NICTA/UNSW team has won a significant international technology award, winning first place in the ARTEMIS Orchestra competition in Athens with a robotically operated, computer-driven clarinet. The NICTA/UNSW project, led by NICTA’s Dr John Judge, developed the clarinet player over the last eight months. NICTA is Australia’s Information and Communications Technology 78  Silicon Chip (ICT) Centre of Excellence, an independent company in the business of research, commercialisation and research training. With over 700 people, NICTA is the largest organisation in Australia dedicated to ICT research. According to Dr Judge, his team won first place due to the high level of technical difficulty in the design of its robot “mouth” and the device’s unique, completely embedded computer system. The clarinet works without an attached PC, the human interface achieved via USB-attached keyboard, LCD screen and LEDs. The Australian entry played Rimsky-Korsakov’s Flight of the Bumblebee and Ravel’s Bolero. The second-placed team from Eindhoven impressed the judges with a robotically driven guitar. The ARTEMIS Orchestra competition challenges contestants to build devices that play real musical instrusiliconchip.com.au ments, to demonstrate the creative potential of embedded systems. Aimed at higher education and universities, the competition is organised by the association of European actors in embedded systems research and development The robot’s “mouth” uses two servomotors that apply force to the clarinet reed to make a sound. The smaller servomotor mimics the action of the human tongue, while the second applies a damping force to the reed, copying the action of the human lip. Force is applied to the clarinet keys by brass plungers with rubber or Nylon feet, depending on the key. The UNSW’s Professor Joe Wolfe, who contributed music acoustics expertise to the project, said a big challenge (as for real-life clarinettists) was to avoid squeaks. This was achieved only a week before the ARTEMIS Orchestra competition, when important circuit boards were completed. Fortunately, “when we turned it on, it already knew how to play siliconchip.com.au scales, very quickly and accurately,” said Professor Wolfe. The project team included UNSW Computer Science and Engineering student Mr Mark Sheahan, NICTA Project leader Dr John Judge and Dr Peter Chubb, who developed the music interpretation software. Mechanical design, construction and CAD components were provided by UNSW, including Kim Son Dang and Dr Jay Katupitiya from the School of School of Mechanical & Manufacturing Engineering and Jean Geoffroy and Paul Santus from the School of Physics. The university’s Professor John Smith and Professor Joe Wolfe, respectively contributed electronic and music acoustic expertise. The clarinet will be used by the UNSW School of Physics’ Acoustics Lab to better understand the gestures of human players. A video clip of the robot performing can be seen at http://nicta.com. au/research/research_themes/embedded_systems/artemis SC Want a real speed controller kit? If you need to control 12 or 24 volt DC motors and want a speed controller that will easily handle 30 amps, then this is the kit for you. This controller allows you to vary the speed of DC motors from 0 to 100%. It is also ideal for controlling loads such as incandescent/halogen lamps and heating elements. This kit makes a great controller for use on small electric vehicle projects, such as electrically assisted bikes and go-carts. We have tested it to over 30 amps without problems—it barely gets warm! Item code: SPEEDCON. We also have solar maximiser kits, Luxeon LEDs, and lots of interesting products and publications. Go to shop.ata.org.au or call us on (03)9639 1500. November 2008  79