The recorder is a kind of flute that could be very well-liked in elementary colleges as a result of the instrument is so easy and cheap. If you happen to had been born within the final 4 many years and grew up in a western nation, then there’s a superb probability that you just had been required to learn to play some primary melodies on a recorder. However like all devices, the recorder is tough to play effectively. So Luis Marx constructed a robotic recorder that would do the tough components.

Marx nonetheless has to blow into the mouthpiece to play this robotic recorder, but it surely takes care of the remainder. A normal recorder has eight holes: seven finger holes on prime and one thumb gap on backside. The participant’s spare thumb and finger assist them stabilize the instrument. This contraption makes use of eight solenoids to shut or open the holes in accordance a pre-programmed sequence. It doesn’t seem that Marx built-in MIDI functionality, however that will make it a lot simpler to play new songs.

The present implementation has the sequence of notes programmed into an Arduino sketch. That sketch runs on an Arduino Nano board, which controls the solenoids via eight MOSFETs. Energy comes from a 650mAh LiPo battery and every little thing attaches to the recorder through a 3D-printed body. As you’ll be able to hear within the video, this works fairly effectively. Foam earplugs on the solenoid rams guarantee an hermetic seal on the finger holes, leading to clear sound so long as Marx’s blowing approach is sweet.