VIDEO: Engineer builds robot violinist

 

 

This desk-sized contraption may not be the prettiest thing, but it can still play more than just a pretty tune on the violin.

 

Meet "RO-BOW," a creation of Seth Goldstein, a Massachussetts Institute of Technology-trained mechanical engineer who has built instruments for 50 years.

 

"RO-BOW" is a machine with four mechanical fingers powered by old-school rotors, pulleys and actuators - and controlled by computer.

 

It is capable of "vibrato, pizzicato, legato, note loudness modulation, and some other bowing effects," Goldstein said on his website.

 

The machine takes music from an electronic keyboard that generates a MIDI file. The file guides the motors that allow "RO-BOW" to reproduce the music.

 

"While the machine won't have concert performers rethinking their careers, it's probably better with a bow than you were way back when -- it can handle a fast Irish jig as well as a slow, sentimental tune like 'Amazing Grace,'" Engadget noted.

 

"RO-BOW" is just one of the contraptions Goldstein has whipped up. Others include "WHY KNOT," which ties and unties a necktie; and "CRAM GUY," which portrays a life-size student grunge-bot cramming for an exam. — Joel Locsin/TJD, GMA News