STRAPPING a robotic percussionist to your arm could make you an ace drummer.
As the movements a drummer makes are hard to describe, music tutors often resort to guiding a student’s hand. So Graham Grindlay, until recently at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, developed a drumstick-wielding robotic arm.
A skilled drummer first trains the motorised arm brace by strapping it on and playing a rhythm pattern. When a novice wears the arm, it “plays back” the beats, allowing the user to feel the pattern’s tempo and the variation in stick pressure. Users can also take advantage of the arm to…
