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Robot Band Neo
The robot band Neo is a musical band of
self-playing robots composed of 3-4
communication robots.
Communication robot, named "Buddy-kun(朋友)" is a
robot that talks with everyone, instructs and
guides singing and gymnastics, and plays musical
instruments in kindergartens and nursing homes.
It can't have very advanced conversations, but
it takes advantage of AI and use speech
recognition and speech synthesis to join the
chat circle.
It can also play musical instruments, such as
bells and drums.
Multiple robots can work together to play tunes
with a wider note range.
The three robots work together to ring the 24
bells from lower G to upper G.
When the four robots work together, one of them
would play drums.
Buddy-kun has a mechanism for communicating with
people and playing music on multiple units.
Devices such as a 3D camera, microphone array,
and speakers are connected to a small PC carried
on the back.
It also has nine servo motors to move its head
and arms.
It can express emotions by devising the lighting
pattern of the LEDs.
Realsense has the function of measuring the
distance to an object in addition to the
function of a normal camera, and is used to
recognize objects and faces.
A re-speaker is a microphone array that can
identify the direction of sound and remove
ambient noise and self-generated sound.
A field of AI called machine learning is used
for object recognition and programs that compose
conversations.
Programs that control sensors and motors are
integrated on the OS for robots called ROS.
Normally, Buddy-kun works independently, but If
multiple units perform an ensemble, they must be
connected to one PC and synchronized.
It uses software developed specifically to send
commands to each robot connected by a cable.
When the program loads a music file in MIDI
format, it is converted into motion data for
each robot and sent out at the right time.
They can play chords by letting two robots hit
the bell at the same time.
Acrylic is used as the material for the frame of
the robot.
Parts are designed with CAD software and cut
with a laser cutter.
Cube-shaped metal fittings are used for
assembly.
Power is supplied from a mobile battery using a
USB cable. |
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