These are some videos from Tatami Band
Amai Island tour.
I brought a small robot to the beach.
We saw snake show and ate local food.
Several groups have appeared in live
houses including Tatami Band. The
group that played Amami Oshima folk
songs was very good at singing. The
live house has very good lighting
system and the robot glowed very much
in the dark.
Tatami bands play musical instruments
with tatami mats (traditional Japanese
mat). A guitar with tatami mats was
donated to a local tourist facility.
The performance at live house was
featured in local newspapers and Yahoo
News.
2月26日
Steampanda
The new robot "Steam-Panda" is almost
completed.
It seems more muscular than I
expected. I put gear and meter
decorations on head and body. I took
it to Amami Island and had some
performance. I will add control with
pitch detection, and more decoration.
Many events have been canceled in
Japan due to the coronavirus. NT
Kyoto, which was scheduled for March,
has also been canceled. I feel sorry
about the number of events has redused,
but I've been thinking that publishing
movies is just as effective as
attending the events. The video could
be seen by more people, and If it
works just once, I can take it to
video. So, I might focus on video
more.
Tatami Band visited Amami Island with
three robots. Amami Island is 1300 km
away from Tokyo and 900 km away from
Kyoto. So, we need to take airplane to
go there.
Amami Island is close to Okinawa and
has a unique culture.
One of the distinctive cultures is the
folk song called Shimauta(means island
song) and tis singing style. It is
similar to Hawaii where it has
tropical nature and a unique song
culture.
We performed at live house and
dome-shaped tourist facility with
local musical performers. We also
visited the local FM station and had
live broadcast.
The island is full of nature including
the venomous snake called Hub.
2月20日
Music Derby
I
tested pitch detection system with
various musical instruments.
Melodica (Keyboard type harmonica) is
not bad but missed some notes such as
F. (I skipped F in the video.)
Metallophone and toy piano have good
reaction.
12 string guiter is not good, contrary
to expectations.
Voice is not good, but it might be
used with some tunening, I guess.
Maybe I need voice training also.
Recorder is the best instrument for
picth detection.
I think it's because it doesn't
contain much harmonics.
2月20日
Tsukuba Mini Maker Faire
Last weekend the first mini Maker
Faire was held in Tsukuba.
Tsukuba is one of the science city in
Japan close to Tokyo.
There is another science city in
Kyoto, it is colse to my house.
There are many research institutes.
Many people came to Tsukuba mini Maker
Faire despite the rain.
I exhibited flag game robot and
Cerestual Harp, no Robot Band this
time since the space is limited.
I visited various booths with the flag
game robot.
On the second floor, there was a robot
contest for junior high school
students.
Many events tend to cancel in Japan
due to the corona virus.
We will have Maker Faire Kyoto in May
hopefully.
2月13日
Tsukuba Mini Maker Faire, this weekend!
2月12日
Exhibition
I exhibited my robots at Science
Experience Festival in Seika Town.
They are Robot Band, fortune-telling
robot and flag game robot. Seika Town
is known as Kansai Science City and
Maker Faire Kyoto will be held in May.
There are many research Institutes
such as ATR, NTT, and NICT. I live in
Seika Town and I have been joining
this event every year.
I anticipated fewer visitors this year
due to the effects of the coronavirus,
but more people came than last year.
Only one infected person has been
confirmed in Kyoto. So, it seems that
people have not yet felt the virus as
a threat. But the rate of children
wearing masks was high. People believe
that masks prevent infection, but I am
skeptical. Anyway, masks are already
difficult to obtain. Washing hands
might be more effective. Alcohol
disinfection of the button on the
remote control was done every time
with robot fortune-telling and flag
game.
Sometimes, children naturally form
queues for fortune-telling in Japan.
2月12日
Steam-panda
I am making a new robot called
steam-panda. I made the frames with
aluminum and anodized them in black
and color of brass. I want to stick to
the color of the screw. I ordered
black and brass screws. Since they
haven't arrived yet, I tentatively
assembled them with ordinary screws.
2月6日
Music Derby
Music Derby is a game in which seven
robots are run by music, and you
predict which robot will go the
farthest when the tune is over.
Each of the four-legged walking robots
that imitate animals, such as deer,
rabbits, and rats, and they are
assigned to musical notes of
C,D,E,F,G,A and B (Do, Re, Mi, Fa,Sol,
La, Si).
For example, note C is assigned to the
deer, note D is assigned to the
rabbit, and note E is assigned to the
rat.
When note C is played, the deer moves
ahead. Playing note D moves the
rabbit, and playing note E moves the
rat.
If I play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star
in C major, which animal will go the
farthest when the song ends?
In C major, you might expect that the
deer which is assigned to C will go
the farthest, because C is the tonic
note of C major Key.
However, in fact, pigs which is
assigned to G win.
The reason is that the most frequent
note is G on Twinkle Twinkle Little
Star.
On the other hand, the cat does not
move at all because the B never
appears.
In this way, the music derby can
visualize the frequency of occurrence
of notes on the musical scale in a
song.
With direct output from arduino,
walking is not stable due to
insufficient torque, so I decided to
use a relay.
Many connectors are used, wirings are
messy as the result.
*notes
- Since the motor should rotate in the
reverse direction, switch the red and
black cables.
- Red and yellow LEDs should have
resistance.
(3.3V LEDs do not require resistance,
2.3V LEDs require 7Ω resistance.)
- The motor and the arduino have
separate battery boxes, but some
bodies work with one common battery.
(Do the material and length of the
cable affect?)
- Relay needs two output pins to
activate.
I calculated the cost.
*Relay 275 yen.
*Gear box 670 yen
*Arduino pro mini 360 yen
*Microphone 313 yen
*Battery box 158 yen X 2
*LED 100 yen X 2
*Switch 100 yen
*Connector cables 60 yen X 22
Acrylic Frame 1000 yen
Resin screws 10 yen X 11
Resin nuts 50 yen X 11
Metal screws 5 yen X 4
Metal nuts 5 yen X 4
Split pins 10 yen X 2
The total cost is 5274 yen,us $50 for
one robot. It is more expensive than I
thought.
Seven animals have been completed, so
I will make race tracks for them.
