Toyota Partner Robot version 8 Violin-Playing Robot
I love music! And to hear sounds that soothe my soul is such a beautiful experience. But to listen to a robot playing my favorite music using a real musical instrument, is magical.
Music is an art, an expression of one's emotions, says an artist. But how does a complete non-human being, like a robot, play a real sound when it does not have emotions? It can! In fact, musical robots began playing on stage since the early 80s. There was the Wabots 1 & 2 musical robots, which played the piano, developed by Waseda University (1984), Wasubot, and Mubot (1989), which can play the recorder, violin or cello automatically.
Wabot 2 (Waseda Robot 2)
These robots can actually perform and conduct orchestra with a degree of intelligence that can match halfway to a real artists'. The basic criteria of playing an instrument with a high of difficulty was achieved. Researchers who developed these robots, integrated intelligent computer applications that can translate a musical score into a language that the robot can understand (using vision and hearing sensors), and thus create a mechanical reproduction of a real sound.
Modern musical robots include Toyota's Ritchie, the drum and tuba player, Dave, the trumpeteer, and the violin-playing robot, which played Vanessa Ray's "Pomp and Circumstance" live. Other musical robots playing the instruments which require higher levels of intelligence and skills, like the guitar, clarinet and saxophones, have also been introduced lately. (I just can't get enough of 'em!)
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For more information on musical robots, see links below.
Toyota Partner Robot ver.6 Rolling Type (Drums, Tuba)
Partner Robot ver.5 Rolling Type (Trumpet ver.2) “Dave”