Using data from weighing scale to play music

Using Arduino Interfacing w/ Software on the Computer
#1

Hey guys!

I´m fairly new to electronics so would appreciate novice-level guidance! :slight_smile: I saw this project on Instructables (http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino-Load-Cell-Scale/) and was wondering if there could be a way to use the data being read by the Arduino to play music on a computer (perhaps using Processing?). So essentially, the weight of objects will be represented not by numbers, but by pre-defined sounds. So the sound/ music being played changes based on which weight bracket the object falls under.

This is one of my ideas for an interactive art show so don´t need this to be a useable scale in the traditional sense. The idea is to represent data in unconventional ways.

Thanks in advance!

#2

Why not just the Arduino control the music playing?
It can send simple serial.write commands to these units to play a file:
Serial.write(001.mp3);

#3

Thank you! I didn´t even know these existed. Would I be able to set one of these to play specific files based on the incoming weight data? Do you know of any projects I can look at for guidance?

Again, I´m a novice, so apologize for wanting everything to be so dumbed down.

#4

Yes you can.
Create a set of value based on however you’re detecting weight.
Then to play a file:

switch(value){ // integer numbers
case 1:
Serial.write (0x01);
break;
case 2:
Serial.write (0x02);
break
:
:
case 198:
Serial.write (0xC6);
break;
case 199:
Serial.write (0xC7); // 199 files max on the players
break;
} // end switch
#5