Summary of ARDUINO PLAYS THE GLASSES
This article describes an Arduino robot built by [Cyberlab] to play music on water-filled glasses. Instead of using a solenoid for each glass, the design places glasses in a circle and uses a stepper motor to position a single solenoid striker over the correct glass. Songs are programmed by converting MIDI files into simplified music box scores, where notes are encoded as numbers. Tuning is achieved by adjusting water levels with a phone app.
Parts used in the Arduino Plays the Glasses:
- Arduino
- Glasses filled with varying amounts of water
- Stepper motor
- Solenoid
- Piano tuning phone app
Have you ever been on a city street and seen a busker playing music on glasses? Each glass has a different amount of water and produces a different note when tapped. [Cyberlab] must have seen them and created an Arduino robot to play tunes on glasses. You can see the result in the video below.
If we had done this, we might have had a solenoid per glass or used some linear component like a 3D printer axis to pick different glasses. [Cyberlab] did something smarter. The glasses go in a circle and a stepper motor points at the correct glass and activates a solenoid. The result is pretty good and it is a lot simpler than any of our ideas.
If you aren’t musically inclined, you might wonder how you’d program the songs. There’s an example of taking a music box score from a website — apparently, there are lots of these — and removing any polyphony from it. The site mentioned even has an editor where you can import MIDI files and work with them to produce a music box strip that you could then convert. Then you encode each note as a number from 0 to 6.
Of course, you also have to fill your glasses with the right amount of water. A piano tuning phone app should be useful. We’ve seen this done in a linear fashion before. You can even use a single glass for many notes with a little ingenuity.
Source: ARDUINO PLAYS THE GLASSES
- How does this robot activate different glasses?
A stepper motor points at the correct glass and activates a single solenoid. - What is the best way to program songs for this project?
Convert MIDI files into a music box score that removes polyphony and encodes notes as numbers from 0 to 6. - Can I use a website editor to create the music score?
Yes, there is a site mentioned that has an editor to import MIDI files and produce a music box strip. - How do you tune the glasses to the right notes?
You fill the glasses with the right amount of water and can use a piano tuning phone app. - Does this project require a solenoid for every glass?
No, it uses a smarter approach with one solenoid activated by a stepper motor pointing at specific glasses. - Is it possible to use fewer than six glasses for many notes?
Yes, you can even use a single glass for many notes with a little ingenuity.
