April 13, 2015

Build an Internet-connected Robot Guitar with Arduino and Raspberry Pi

After being inspired by a guitar-playing robot during World Expo '88, Ben Reardon decided to harness the available technology to make his own version and improve upon the original. Ben's example can not only play chimes or tunes, but also convert firewall logs into sounds and thus created a different type of interactive guitar.

The project relies on synergy between a Raspberry Pi and an Arduino - with the Pi taking care of the networking side of things and communicating with the Arduino, which is ideal for controlling servos and other hardware interaction. The automated guitar is a great success and demonstrated in the following video:

You can learn about the hardware and software required to bring the guitar to life through Ben's interesting website. And for more, we're on facebookGoogle+, and twitter - so follow us for news and product updates as well.

For more complex Raspberry Pi projects that require interaction between an Arduino and a Raspberry Pi for enhanced hardwre control you can save time and space by using our new PiLeven board:

The PiLeven is an Arduino-compatible board based on the Arduino Uno, but with a few changes. Obviously it's a bit of a strange shape! The PiLeven fits right on top of a Raspberry Pi (either model B or B+) using the Raspberry Pi expansion headers.

The PiLeven also has a high-current switchmode power supply, so you can plug in anything from 7V to 18Vdc using the standard 2.1mm jack. The PiLeven can power the Raspberry Pi, so you don't need a regulated 5V USB connection anymore.

Serial communications on the PiLeven is linked through to the Raspberry Pi, so your Pi can upload new sketches straight to the PiLeven or send/receive data and commands. We've included level shifters so the 3.3V Pi can talk safely to the 5V PiLeven. And you can plug standard Arduino shields right into the PiLeven, giving your Raspberry Pi access to the huge range of shields already available. For more information about the PiLeven, including our tutorials - and to order yours today, visit the PiLeven webpage.

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