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Build Your Own Drum-Playing Robot

libertynews writes "Here is a project called P.E.A.R.T. where EE students constructed a drum playing robot using USB controlled pneumatic actuators and MIDI files."

43 of 168 comments (clear)

  1. Pre-emptive Slashdotting? by Johnny+Fusion · · Score: 5, Funny

    No comments, and the link is ALREADY DEAD.

    The slashdot effect never fails to amaze me..

    --
    There are two kinds of fool. One says, This is old, and therefore good. And one says, This is new, and therefore better.
    1. Re:Pre-emptive Slashdotting? by Coneasfast · · Score: 4, Interesting

      nyud cache going in circles for some reason :+( :
      here

      --
      Marge, get me your address book, 4 beers, and my conversation hat.
    2. Re:Pre-emptive Slashdotting? by BrynM · · Score: 5, Funny
      To the tune of "Hot Blooded"

      The Site's Slash-dotted, click it and see
      Net Timeout Errors and 503s
      C'mon server, Do the packets do more than bounce?
      It's slashdotted, it's slashdotted

      I don't get to read their site
      Like some other users might
      Honey you oughta know
      Before it served so fine
      There were pages online
      I wanna know when this page will finally load

      Now it's up to you, make it static
      strip the images too
      Let the packets through
      I wanna read something I never knew

      But now it's Slash-dotted, click it and see
      Net Timeout Errors and 503s
      C'mon server, Do the packets do more than bounce?
      It's slashdotted, it's slashdotted

      If the host is right, it can serve pages all night
      But now i'm just slapping keys
      Server, you've got to give me a sign
      come on Google, a cached sign
      Tell me, are melting server?
      You sure look that way to me

      Are you holding up?
      Will you be ready if I remember this stuff?
      Is my timing right?
      Did you save bandwidth for me tonight?

      Yeah, it's Slash-dotted, click it and see
      Net Timeout Errors and 503s
      C'mon server, Do the packets do more than bounce?
      It's slashdotted, it's slashdotted

      Now it's up to you, make it static
      strip the images too
      Oh, before we do,
      you'll have to get rid of a user or two

      Well, it's Slash-dotted, click it and see
      Net Timeout Errors and 503s
      C'mon server, Do the packets do more than bounce?
      It's slashdotted, it's slashdotted

      Slashdotted, at least for tonight
      Slashdotted, you were looking so right
      Slashdotted, this clicking's gotten me riled
      Slashdotted, I have to wait a while
      Slashdotted, traffic a little bit high?
      Slashdotted, your poor server died
      Slashdotted, I hope your doing something
      Slashdotted, cause here's your chance for publicity

      --
      US Democracy:The best person for the job (among These pre-selected choices...)
    3. Re:Pre-emptive Slashdotting? by evilviper · · Score: 4, Funny
      No comments, and the link is ALREADY DEAD.

      You changed the status by checking it... Welcome to the world of quantum slashdotting!
      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    4. Re:Pre-emptive Slashdotting? by Concerned+Onlooker · · Score: 2, Insightful

      That's awesome, but given the subject matter of the article it should have been to the tune of something by Rush. :-)

      --
      http://www.rootstrikers.org/
    5. Re:Pre-emptive Slashdotting? by Rolo+Tomasi · · Score: 2, Funny
      {MP|RI}AA

      Didn't you get the news? MPAA and RIAA have merged. They're called the Music And Film Industry Association now.

      --
      Did you know you can fertilize your lawn with used motor oil?
  2. The goggles do nothing! by stienman · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Probably named after Neil Peart, Drummer for Rush.

    -Adam

    1. Re:The goggles do nothing! by CausticPuppy · · Score: 5, Funny

      Probably named after Neil Peart, Drummer for Rush.

      No. Surely it's just a coincidence.

      --
      -CausticPuppy "Of all the people I know, you're certainly one of them." -Somebody I don't know
  3. Feed it a MIDI file for Moby Dick by HornWumpus · · Score: 5, Funny

    Watch it self distruct.

    --
    John McAfee 'It was like that time I hired that Bangkok prostitute; to do my taxes, while I fucked my accountant'
  4. Ha Ha its dead. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    There should be an automatic test ran before each article is posted to test the server. A failure should either delay the article or mirror it somewhere else.

    1. Re:Ha Ha its dead. by Zardus · · Score: 3, Informative

      *robot-played drumroll*

      Introducing.... MirrorDot!

      --
      You can mod your friends, you can mod your nose, but you can't mod your friend's nose.
    2. Re:Ha Ha its dead. by alib001 · · Score: 2

      Maybe it's because I just scan-read about one hundred pages of a PDF book but that MirrorDot background is migraine-inducing.

      ...tell me, Mr. Anderson, what good is a site mirror if you are unable to see?

      If you are in any way connected with MirrorDot.org please throw up an alternate stylesheet or something!

  5. Animusic lives! by Chmarr · · Score: 3, Interesting

    Cool! The first part of Animusic has come alive... Now if they can only duplicate the ball-shooting music machine, I'd be in heaven.

    Brief: Animusic is a bunch of animated music clips, where the animation is controlled by a MIDI file. Some great animation, and great music, in there.

  6. Don't do it by xasper8 · · Score: 5, Funny

    Sure a build your own drum playing robot, sounds great...
    Slave over it, loose sleep programming it, pour your hard earned money into it...
    Next thing you know it runs off to Hollywood to start a band...
    Yeah you MAY get a postcard occasionally... You may see it during guest appearances on TechTV but, will it care you are up fretting it's getting its proper upgrades? NO!

    It sounds like a recipe for heartache...
    Sorry, I've said too much already...

    --
    Instead of raising your voice, try strengthening your argument.
  7. and... by eSavior · · Score: 3, Insightful

    wtf would I do with a drum playing robot? I would think the amount of effort to put together one would vastly outweigh my ammusement of watching a tin can play the drums.

    1. Re:and... by echo-e · · Score: 2, Interesting

      The fact is that a pnumatic "robot" can play the drums faster than just about any human drummer. It would be pretty impressive to hear live, acoustic drum riffs at 200+ bpm...

      at least for ten or fifteen minutes.

  8. Obligatory... by stuuf · · Score: 2
    --

    Everyone is born right-handed; only the greatest overcome it

  9. can you say... by blool · · Score: 3, Insightful

    easy, theres nothing remotely hard about a drum playing robot... a trumpet playing robot would be more interesting.

  10. fun noise generator... by Sam+Nitzberg · · Score: 4, Funny

    cat /dev/random | /dev/drum

    1. Re:fun noise generator... by Scum+Puppy · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I hope the robot isn't running BSD, heh. Not sure if this is still true, but amusing none the less.

  11. Re:ah! by sumdumass · · Score: 2, Funny

    so does mine, whats your point?

  12. Help Bender get into the Robot Hall of Fame by Tibe · · Score: 2, Informative

    C-3PO was just inducted into The Robot hall of fame.

    I wanna see bender get inducted.

  13. Q: How many drummers by LearnToSpell · · Score: 4, Funny

    does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

    A: Twenty. One to screw it in, and nineteen to talk about how much better Neil Peart could have done it.

    *rimshot*

    1. Re:Q: How many drummers by evilviper · · Score: 5, Funny

      Q: How many drummers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

      A: None. We have a machine that can do that now.

      Actually, I think this joke was much funnier before this story.

      --
      Slashdot gets worse every day... Pipedot: News for nerds, without the corporate slant
    2. Re:Q: How many drummers by TheTomcat · · Score: 3, Funny

      We're starting the drummer jokes? ...

      Q: how many drummers does it take to screw in a lightbulb?
      A: one, but he's got a roadie to pick out the bulb, take it out of the box, place it in the threads, and hold it just right until the drummer is ready for it.

      ---

      Q: what's the last thing the drummer said before being kicked out of the band?
      A: hey guys, I wrote a song!

      ---
      Q: why does every band have a bass player?
      A: SOMEONE has to drive the van. ... hear about the bass player who locked his keys in the van? took him 3 hours to get the drummer out.

      ---

      I also like the "guy who hangs with musicians" one, but someone beat me to it.

      S

    3. Re:Q: How many drummers by Gordonjcp · · Score: 2, Funny
      What's the difference between a drummer and a drum machine?


      You only need to punch the rhythm into the drum machine once.

  14. Almost there... by sevensharpnine · · Score: 5, Funny

    It's impressive that the robot can go through the physical actions of a drummer, however, they've still got a few more features to add. Here's a list of features typical in a drummer:

    1) An obnoxious t-shirt. My favorite is the old "Snatch: the Greatest Food on Earth". Of course, there are plenty of others. Alternatively, a lesser drummer might resort to an old hockey jersey, but make sure it has a dozen holes and pizza stains on it.

    2) Abhorrent smell. When your eyes water, you're getting close. The smell should be enough to kill a small animal.

    3) Repulsive to women. This is more attitude than anything else. Make sure the robot takes credit for everything. The robot should act like Gods' gift to music; he wrote/composed everything and is really the key to the band's success. Also, if there are any guitar robots around trying to hit on bar-bunny robots, make sure drummer robots inturrupts with embarassing stories about the guitar robots.

    4) Completely insane tastes in music. Make sure the robot likes nothing more than some obscure late-60's bluegrass band that sold a hundred albums. As a bonus, the robot should get violent when said band's musical ability is questioned. Drummer robot should insist that this band's entire catalog be performed at every gig.

    5) Alcoholism. The robot should start drinking in the morning, and won't stop till the next. Make sure the robot whores all the free beer at gigs. For the best realism, make sure this alchohol intensifies all of the other mentioned points. But most importantly, a good drummer always lets alcohol cause him to play poorly. It's never his own fault, of course.

    6) Always late. Rehearsal, Gig, Practice, Weddings, ii-V changes, second verse, etc.

    --
    "God is a comedian playing to an audience too afraid to laugh." -Voltaire
    1. Re:Almost there... by mabu · · Score: 2, Funny

      What we need is a robot guitarist... something that can be programmed to TURN HIS DAMN VOLUME DOWN!!

      Q: How do you get a guitarist to turn down?

      A: Put sheet music in front of him.

  15. drum beating robot, eh? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    no thanks, already have one.

  16. Similar (but cooler!) by nmoog · · Score: 2, Interesting
    They unleashed this beast at Electrofringe in Syndey this year.
    CeLL is a MIDI controlled pneumatic orchestra - a self playing installation mounted in a 6m shipping container

    Sounded and looked fucking amazing. Big crowd pleaser too!
  17. What do you call a guy... by falzer · · Score: 4, Funny

    ...who hangs out with three musicians?

    The drummer!

    *Ba-dum-bump-tsh*

  18. Re:Just what we need. by Digi-John · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Drum circles, heh.

    When I was at Evergreen Boy's State, we started every town meeting off with 2 minutes freestyle drumming... on chairs, desks, notepads, whatever.

    We could have used this robot, it would have been the only one with a sense of tempo :-) For a bunch of musicians (probably half of us played), we sure couldn't keep a beat.

    Note that my "city" was probably the weirdest of all. We had our drumming, we came up with the first "boring meeting call-and-response" things, we had the white guy with dreadlocks, we had a Greeting Committee to tell us how to say hi to each other, a Most Elite Gaming Committee for setting up Ultimate Frisbee games, a rule that non-residents must ask permission before entering our hallways, and the call "bombs away" was required when flushing a toilet.

    Wow, I digress. Drumming robots good, drum circles bad.

    --
    Klingon programs don't timeshare, they battle for supremacy.
  19. How do you know when the drum riser is level? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    The drummer drools out of both sides of his mouth.

    How do you know when a drummer is at your door?

    The knock speeds up.

  20. Yes, but... by nickjl · · Score: 4, Funny

    Can it use the drum to send IP packets?

    1. Re:Yes, but... by sploo22 · · Score: 3, Informative

      For those who don't get the joke, TCP/IP via bongo drums.

      --
      Karma: Segmentation fault (tried to dereference a null post)
  21. That should be... by Biogenesis · · Score: 2, Informative

    cat /dev/random > /dev/drum

  22. Good drummers are hard to find... by Lerxst+Pratt · · Score: 2, Informative
    In this case, percussionist is the correct word. If the namesake is truly Neil Peart, "drummer" is a woefully inadequate descriptor. He is much more accomplished than a mere drummer and this project may wish to aspire to such great heights.

    Some people are missing the point and think that this project was invented just to play MIDI drum sounds through a speaker. Although I cannot reach the website because of the slashdotting, I can infer from the original post that this is a real robot playing real drums. This is an admirable feat at the very least.

    Having a synthetic Neil Peart would be phenomenal. I'm happy that these students have taken it upon themselves to usher MIDI to the next level by melding it with very real robotic triggers to make the drums sound more realistic. Also, I'm elated that one of the most spectacular and accomplished drummers of our time is being recognized by name with a project such as this.

    If you want to check out some real Neil Peart, here's an excellent site for some bootlegs. Just do a search on 'Rush' for the ultimate in percussive listening pleasure!!! IMHCO, a mechanical drummer will never sound this good. If you're sufficiently impressed, go buy the studio albums. You won't regret it.

  23. don't forget the monkey drummer by BlueLines · · Score: 2, Interesting

    chris cunningham did a sweet robotic drummer installation. you can find it here:

    http://www.starpulse.com/Music/Aphex_Twin/Biogra ph y/

    click on the "monkey drummer" link.

    --
    --BlueLines "The cost of living hasn't affected it's popularity." -anonymous
  24. Ha, still no match for... by NarrMaster · · Score: 2, Interesting

    ... the Drum Can Man

    --
    That's right. All your base.
  25. Re:Cute by Keith+Russell · · Score: 2, Informative

    The rap in "Roll The Bones" was a pitch-altered Geddy, not Neil. IIRC, Neil's only vocal contributions over the years are "Subdivisions" and "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation... We have assumed control."

    And if you need something to expunge the memory of attempted Canadian hip-hop, I highly recommend Vapor Trails. Geddy may have screwed up the engineering, but he accidentally got them in touch with their inner garage band.

    --
    This sig intentionally left blank.
  26. What do you call a drummer.. by myke113 · · Score: 2, Funny

    What do you call a drummer without a girlfriend?



    Homeless =)

    --

    -Myke
    myke@compassionatecoalition.org
    http://www.compassionatecoalition.org
  27. My (original) drummer joke by Chazmati · · Score: 2

    I hung out with a bunch of musicians in high school. Most of these guys were drummers, though, and I play a horn. We were always throwing barbs around, and the drummer jokes always riled these guys up.

    The best was this one time when we were all home from college. We found out that one of my drummer friends (and his wife) got duped into the Amway thing. We're at this guy's house when they decide to give us the presentation "for practice". Ugh.

    So Chris is in the middle of the presentation, and at this point he's pitching Amway as a great backup in case your regular career falls through. His unfortunate example of how this might happen was always a car crash. He turns to my friend Rob, who had decided to pursue percussion as a career. Rob was attending North Texas State, a top music school. Chris says "Rob, you're going to NTSU, you're going to be an awesome drummer someday, but what if you get in a car crash and... uh... lose your arms?"

    Rob grins and says, "Gee Chris, I guess I could sell Amway."

    Chris turns to me and says "Dave, you're going to RPI and you're going to be some genius engineer, but what if you get in a car crash and... uh... get brain damaged?"

    I look at Rob and say "Well, I guess I could still play the drums!" Rob attacks me and thankfully the scuffle lasted long enough to end the presentation.