I'm planning to make an arduino controlled ukulele, i have the plans set out but I'm new to the world of arduino and am unsure on what hardware I should choose.
My idea is to use my arduino mega to read an SD card with an SD read and write module. The SD will contain a selection of 'songs' that will be selected with an array of buttons along with maybe a stop button, or some similar layout of control buttons. For the actual control of the ukulele i plan to use 4 servos to pluck each string, and 4 stepper motors attached to a sliding contact, sliding up and down the fret board to set location. so to sum things up; user chooses a 'song', arduino reads file, file contains locations on the fret board for stepper motors to reach and what string to pluck when.
I have a lot to iron out obviously, like maintaining timing through operation, controlling servos and stepper motors simultaneously, and a few other issues. I plan to make this project run without need of a computer connection, so i will need a power supply for the ukulele and the arduino.
So I'm asking for help in knowing what hardware you would recommend, being new to arduino this feels like a large challenge for a fist major project so i feel quite lost. also any help with issues you see in my plans or suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated.
List of known hardware i will require;
sd card module
4 stepper motors
4 servos
power supply
Before you do anything else, you need to decide exactly how the servos and steppers will physically interact with the instrument. The mechanical arrangement will greatly restrict your choices of servos and motors.
Getting those choices to work at all will also require a great deal of experimentation, and you may eventually decide that the project is not feasible.
similiar yes, but built atop an actual ukulele. i kow building atop a ukulele will make spacing an issue but it will save a large amount of work
jremington:
Before you do anything else, you need to decide exactly how the servos and steppers will physically interact with the instrument. The mechanical arrangement will greatly restrict your choices of servos and motors.
Getting those choices to work at all will also require a great deal of experimentation, and you may eventually decide that the project is not feasible.
i have the mechanics thought out, but not clearly and i know that i will need experimentation, i was hoping to get recommendations that would be suitable that have a similar use case example so i can have some confidence that they will serve appropriately.
sor the mechanics i plan simply attaching servos to picks, i feel that will be relatively simply. for the stepper motors i plan to use a rail and pulley system, so the servo will drive the pulley, although i am looking for simpler options on this.
I'm not a musician (I can just about play a CD) but I believe music requires very precise timing and I suspect that would be hard to achieve with servos, at least for plucking stings.
And it looks like the clever machine in the video has a very complex mechanism for clamping the strings. I think with a regular stringed instrument considerable finger force is required.
I suggest the OP makes a mock up with a single string to allow experimenting with the mechanical and control system.
Robin2:
I'm not a musician (I can just about play a CD) but I believe music requires very precise timing and I suspect that would be hard to achieve with servos, at least for plucking stings.
And it looks like the clever machine in the video has a very complex mechanism for clamping the strings. I think with a regular stringed instrument considerable finger force is required.
I suggest the OP makes a mock up with a single string to allow experimenting with the mechanical and control system.
...R
That would probably be how I'd prototype mechanisms, seems silly trying to manage 4 at a time.
Anybon have advice on power supplies ? Wall, battery ?
