aMuse

initial brainstorm

We are going to create a keyboard that can automatically play certain songs by itself with corresponding key movement. We are planning to laser-cut the overall structure of our project: it may look like a box with certain keys on the top. Those keys are supported by solenoids under them and would drop down when a certain frequency of song is played. We are going to use different buzzers to generate sounds of different frequencies. The whole process is controlled by event-driven code. The materials we need to buy are the buzzers and possibly bigger solenoids.

Abstract

Our project is a automatic keyboard that displays the music for you. Not only the sound of the music, but how the music is generated by the keys. Since most people do not have time to practice and somehow master piano, aMuse is able to help you reproduce the process of music creation. Our original goal was to use solenoids to control the keys and make them up and down, and use bluetooth speaker to produce the sound. We end up using analog output of Arduino to put different frequencies into speakers. The whole circuit of aMuse is driven by two Arduinos: the controller and the actuator. The controller send the notes and durations to the actuator by bluetooth signal. This allows aMuse to be put far away from the controller and be displayed in various spaces.

description

A minimalist, classic, yet modern adaptation of the grand piano. Being completely electrically driven, aMuse closely simulates the beauty of a moving piano without any effort by the user.

Inspiration

For most people who are in favor of music, especially piano music, it is hard for them to spend certain amount of time to practice and master the instrument. Thus it is highly possible that they cannot enjoy the process of creating music. aMuse is thus designed to simulate the real keyboard and help people experience creation on keyboard by their own. With wooden structure laser-cut and the circuits all hidden inside, this device only needs to powered. The wireless control system would enable customers to leave aMuse anywhere they want. They can also take aMuse to other places if necessary. The only thing that you need to do with aMuse is put it down, control it, and enjoy the music created by it.

how it works

aMuse is automatic wireless keyboard that can play any note of any frequency! By sending the note and its duration from the controller, the actuator circuit would automatically receive and process the signal. It converts the note into a frequency and use the analog output pin of Arduino Uno to generate sound with a speaker. At the same time, the Arduino is driving a circuit controlling 8 transistors. Those 8 transistors are driving 8 solenoids separately. When a certain note signal is received, the Arduino would then process the duration of the note into the duration of signal for a transistor. The pull down circuit of the transistor would then allow current go through the solenoid and let the key drop. This process would always sync with the sound played by the speaker and allows audience to enjoy the music both acoustically and visually. If you already put all the keys and durations for a song into the controller, you can simply press the button and start the music; otherwise you can also stop the controller by pressing the push-button again.

How we built it

Initially, we designed a single key with only one solenoid to test the function of the solenoids. It turns out to have great effect and high accuracy. We then started to design other parts in SolidWorks. This process took a lot of time since we need to adjust the structure of our device and consider different designs. For instance, we first considered to use hinges to connect the keys to the keyboard itself, but we finally solved this problem in a much easier way: we drilled holes through all keys and use a stick to put them altogether. We decided not to use any glue or screw, so we designed the parts of the aMuse to be detachable. The idea was really fascinating but also really time consuming: it extended our design process for another week. After we designed the mechanical parts of our keyboard, we started to build up the circuits of controller and actuator. We took the circuit of our MVP and improved the connection and structure of the circuits. We rearranged the breadboard to adjust the whole circuit under the inside the keyboard (and do not interfere with the solenoids!) Finally, we built up the whole circuit and tested the bluetooth signal between Master and Slave bluetooth connectors. We then coded the Arduino with C and used aMuse to play its first song:’Jasmine Flower’.

challenges

As we were first doing the designs of the keyboard, we struggled a lot with the operation of SolidWorks. Both of us were lack of experience of creating projects with SolidWorks and we thus spent a lot of time to learn it. We also bothered by the precision of the laser-cut machine. Our detachable structure somehow became non-detachable since the sizes of the laser-cutting pieces were different. The process of connecting all the wires (for 8 solenoids!!!) was really annoying, but we finally got it done.

Accomplishments

We successfully synced the sound and keyboard, and the tapping sounds of the solenoids simulate the sounds of old pianos well. The whole structure is detachable and is connected without any screw or nail, which shoulds the advantage of our SolidWorks design. The circuit is really stable, and they are all hidden from audience. They can be displayed to audiences by opening the front part of the keyboard. The music generated by aMuse was impressive!

What we learned

We learned how to design 3D models on SolidWorks, and how to adjust the laser-cut sizes for different parts of a detachable structure.
We also got a better understanding of Arduino programming and different analog output functions of Arduino, for example tone(). C programming, Arduino circuitry/microcontrollers, Bluetooth connection, integrating different sensors/solenoids/controllers, mechanical design/engineering, piano music, and finally filmmaking

What’s next for aMuse

Simpler song configuration, addition of black keys, better sound quality. Better user interaction and better power source.