Max Inman and Jim Murcia Calderon
MU2301 – Making Music with Machines A25

The Variable Actuated Mallet is a detachable mallet/drumstick that can be played by both machine and human. The head of the mallet has the ability to rotate with the help of a servo motor, with each section of the head having a varying amount of foam offering different damping capabilities. The head is also equipped with a DC vibration motor that causes the head to shake and vibrate causing a droning sound whenever it is in contact with a resonator.

As mentioned before the mallet can be played in 2 ways either by hand or by MIDI/machine. When played by hand the mallet has a slider and button combo built in, with the slider controlling the servo/head rotation and the button controlling the vibration motor turning it on whenever pressed. Whenever it is played by machine it is attached to a stepper motor and a base through a 4-bar linkage system. Certain midi signals are mapped to different rotations and actions. Whenever the stepper receives the signal to strike it rotates clockwise ever so slightly and with the help of the 4-bar linkage the small movement is translated into a more powerful and accurate strike.

This results in a cooperative robot that can be played by a human player or can simply accompany a player through MIDI control.

Videos and Images

Fully Assembled Bot:

Human Control:

MIDI Control:

4-Bar Linkage Arm Movement:

Circuit:

Project Design and inspirations:

Final Designs and Outcomes:

BOM

Code: actuated_mallet_code