2023 - Robot interpreting music to paint

Task description

In 2023, TUHH will participate in the creation of the new Ligeti Center. The Ligeti Center is an interdisciplinary transfer center that combines the fields of art, medicine, applied science and technology, and is located in the harbor of Harburg at Veritaskai 1. In order to combine art and science, we would like you to create an innovative robot capable of interpreting music to create a work of art. The robot will be used as a showcase and must perform autonomously while a piece of music is played. Each music should result in a unique painting and it should be possible to show how the robot interpreted the music. For convenience, the surface of the painting will be a simple cotton stretched canvas (60 x 80 cm). It should dry in a reasonable amount of time for transportation after the show. Since the robot will be used in the presence of the public, it must remain safe at any point in time and its use of paint must be sustainable. The robot should be able to be prepared for action in a maximum of 10 minutes and must be transportable by one person. Energy supply will be provided if required, no external control is intended during the performance. The total budget per robot for purchased parts and prints in the WorkINGLab is 400 EUR.

Results

Video:

https://mediathek.hfmt-hamburg.de/l2go/-/get/v/789

Solutions

 

Group A

Group B

Group D

Group E

 

Group A

Group B

Group D

Group E

Mechanical design

Gantry mechanism

 

Gantry mechanism

 

Gantry mechanism

Parallel kinematics

 

Painting mechanism

  • 3 Brush pens

  • Pushed one by one by a motor

3 constant colors:

  • 2 rollers with acrylic paint

  • 1 marker

 

Brush & paint palette (8 different colors)

 

 

Hardware - Motors

4x 17HS3404 NEMA17 Two Phase Stepper Motor, 12V, 0,4A

Hardware - Microphone

 

Renkforce RF-MIC-510 USB microphone with hard carrying case

Renkforce UM-80 USB microphone wired incl. cable

Renkforce UM-80 USB-Mikrofon Kabelgebunden inkl. Kabel

Hardware - Boards and drivers

Music interpretation

  • FFT → Frequency domain → average frequency

  • Time domain → amplitude

  • Low-pass filter on amplitude → react to trends in music

  • Dynamic reaction to signal history

  • Output difference to previous average and scale

    between min/max (updated along the music)

X movement, Y movement, color change

Pitch analysis:

Analog → digital → FFT

Every 7s: calculate RMS of amplitude → normalized value

→ Plots:

  • Vertical axis: normalized pitch

  • Horizontal axis: time

→ Extracts points from the curve → straight lines

3 constant colors

  1. Idea 1: Firework

    • Frequency → musical note → color

    • Amplitude → loudness → stroke length

  1. Idea 2: Flower bouquet

    • Coordinates assigned to unique note with color

    • Stroke length based on Octave number

    • Stroke direction randomized in 360°

  1. Idea 3: Shapes

 

Base: circle, radius increases at each incrementally

Result

 

Institut für Mechatronik im Maschinenbau (iMEK), Eißendorfer Straße 38, 21073 Hamburg