Ghost Play - A Violin-Playing Robot using Electromagnetic Linear Actuators

Takahiro Kamatani, Yoshinao Sato, and Masato Fujino

Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression

• Year: 2022
• Location: The University of Auckland, New Zealand
• Article Number: 18
• DOI: 10.21428/92fbeb44.754a50b5 (Link to paper)
• PDF link
• Presentation Video

Abstract:

Ghost Play is a violin-playing robot that aims to realize bowing and fingering similar to human players. Existing violin-playing machines have faced various problems concerning performance techniques owing to constraints imposed by their design. Bowing and fingering that require accurate and high-acceleration movement (e.g., a spiccato, tremolo, and glissando) are essential but challenging. To overcome this problem, Ghost Play is equipped with seven electromagnetic linear actuators, three for controlling the bow (i.e., the right hand), and the other four for controlling the pitch on each string (i.e., the left hand). The violin-playing robot is mounted with an unmodified violin bow. A sensor is attached to the bow to measure bow pressure. The control software receives a time series of performance data and manipulates the actuators accordingly. The performance data consists of the bow direction, bow speed, bow pressure, pitch, vibrato interval, vibrato width, and string to be drawn. We also developed an authoring tool for the performance data using a graphic user interface. Finally, we demonstrated Ghost Play performing bowing and fingering techniques such as a spiccato, tremolo, and glissando, as well as a piece of classical music.

Citation:

BibTeX Entry:

  @inproceedings{NIME22_18,
 abstract = {Ghost Play is a violin-playing robot that aims to realize bowing and fingering similar to human players. Existing violin-playing machines have faced various problems concerning performance techniques owing to constraints imposed by their design. Bowing and fingering that require accurate and high-acceleration movement (e.g., a spiccato, tremolo, and glissando) are essential but challenging. To overcome this problem, Ghost Play is equipped with seven electromagnetic linear actuators, three for controlling the bow (i.e., the right hand), and the other four for controlling the pitch on each string (i.e., the left hand). The violin-playing robot is mounted with an unmodified violin bow. A sensor is attached to the bow to measure bow pressure. The control software receives a time series of performance data and manipulates the actuators accordingly. The performance data consists of the bow direction, bow speed, bow pressure, pitch, vibrato interval, vibrato width, and string to be drawn. We also developed an authoring tool for the performance data using a graphic user interface. Finally, we demonstrated Ghost Play performing bowing and fingering techniques such as a spiccato, tremolo, and glissando, as well as a piece of classical music.},
 address = {The University of Auckland, New Zealand},
 articleno = {18},
 author = {Kamatani, Takahiro and Sato, Yoshinao and Fujino, Masato},
 booktitle = {Proceedings of the International Conference on New Interfaces for Musical Expression},
 doi = {10.21428/92fbeb44.754a50b5},
 issn = {2220-4806},
 month = {jun},
 pdf = {136.pdf},
 presentation-video = {https://youtu.be/FOivgYXk1_g},
 title = {Ghost Play - A Violin-Playing Robot using Electromagnetic Linear Actuators},
 url = {https://doi.org/10.21428%2F92fbeb44.754a50b5},
 year = {2022}
}