Robot drummer goes solo, plays solos

Finally you can give your drummer his walking papers. Let's be honest, he was the weak link in the band, right? From now on, all your percussive duties can be carried out by this ingenious bot, whose only duty in artificial-life is to roll around, find objects to bang on, and create funky little loops. Basically, the Yellow Drum Machine uses two microphones / sound sensors on its "head" to search out surfaces suitable for rocking, then uses two sticks to play a beat, record it, and accompany the playback. The end result is a surprisingly human -- and wiggle-inducing -- rhythm. Check the video after the break to see just how nasty this robot gets.

[Via Make]

[Yevon @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:29AM]

I can totally see this roaming around my house and trying to create mad beats by hitting my dog.

[Bobs @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:32AM]

Or your wife.

[AutoTom @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:49AM]

nice

[Al @ Mar 23rd 2008 9:13PM]

haha bobs wins

[Taipans @ Mar 24th 2008 8:35AM]

Haha!

[andres @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:40AM]

wow, this is a really impressive bot, those rhythms are pretty catchy

[andres @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:41AM]

oops, really need an edit feature

[andres @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:05AM]

damnit, my correction got attached to the wrong post, why edit feature, whyyyyyyyy!!!

[ai4281 @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:53AM]

what do you call a non-musician that hangs out with the band? A Drummer!!

Well, now we can replace them with Robots.

[Prezzie @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:07AM]

Obviously, you've never actually tried to play drums...

[murray @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:05AM]

COOLEST ROBOT EVER. Awesome. LOVE IT!

[oshean @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:06AM]

pata pata pata pon

[Marc @ Mar 29th 2008 6:41PM]

that game is awsome "pata pata pata pon"

[Michael LaFramboise @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:14AM]

WALL*E? Is that you?!

[anonymous @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:32AM]

He should join Kraftwerk

[gpdrummr @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:03AM]

dumb.

[CraigJ @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:44AM]

that's OK, you can't help it. We understand.

[IndiaTech @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:28AM]

Johnny 5 FTW!!!

[papafew @ Mar 23rd 2008 5:01AM]

Wall•E copeland...

[Genome @ Mar 23rd 2008 5:57AM]

Mmmmmmmmm, Hot Glue...


^____________________^

[Demis @ Mar 23rd 2008 6:12AM]

But can he play Slayer - Raining Blood?

[Ghen @ Mar 23rd 2008 3:17PM]

Nobody can play Raining Blood... and nobody wants to.

[Jarhead2012 @ Mar 24th 2008 6:01AM]

@ Ghen- I loled

[Bad Beaver @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:00AM]

That thing is a masterpiece, with every aspect adding to its cuteness, the color, the bouncy movement, the wiggly head... and it's got rhythm! Far out!

[AKBlade13 @ Mar 23rd 2008 8:01AM]

Mass Production so I can buy this please. :D

AKBlade13

[Bobs @ Mar 23rd 2008 8:52AM]

Quick question, why did you put AKBlade13 at the end of your comment?

[Bobs @ Mar 24th 2008 8:58PM]

Wow, that reached highest ranked pretty fast, I guess im not the only one who wants to know why.

[kamisori @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:21AM]

how cute!
i would love to have one roaming around my flat... xD and beating the shit out of my dog... nah just kiddin my dog would be scared to hell of this cute lil drummer boy xD


anyways, seriously cool machine... and cute ^___^ i mean look at how it "looks" around xD soo cute... a must/want have ^^

[Tristan @ Mar 23rd 2008 4:53PM]

lay off the coke

[Schteve @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:24AM]

Not mass-production, that'd ruin half the appeal.

A kit, on the other hand, would be AWESOME. And well worth $120 (price he gives for parts).

[CraigJ @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:44AM]

It's no Neil Peart, but still a noteworthy achievement, but it does need MORE COWBELL!

[nghtdvl @ Mar 23rd 2008 2:52PM]

If you think that's awesome, you probably don't know about Captured by Robots!... a band mostly made up of robots... and their human prisoner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7B0t_v8NYjI

He has horn robots also, now.

[Flaminsteve @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:44PM]

I for one welcome our new beat making overlords...

[Flaminsteve @ Mar 23rd 2008 7:57PM]

Had to say it....

[Scott Stevenson @ Mar 23rd 2008 8:10PM]

This robot has an amazing amount of personality for what it is. Very well done by the creator.

-Scott

[psilver @ Mar 23rd 2008 8:57PM]

This is really neat! I commend those who do these things. :)

[wo @ Mar 23rd 2008 11:05PM]

insanely tight! this robot made funkiness in a fraction of the time it would take me to come up with a tight beat. we one step closer to the singularity.

[fritsl @ Mar 24th 2008 10:04AM]

Thanks, everybody :)

Thank you so very much! how inspiring :)

I was wondering where all the traffic came from, and found it to be here with all you nice people :) - even though the article is a bit "off beat" (the 2 things in front are ultra sonic sensors, not really "microphones", the microphone is under the deck, and even though it is not the final video showing, and the kind people at engadget show my photo without asking, and without linking to letsmakerobots.com .. it is all so merry and joy!

Thanks again, I consider making "a friend" for it, so they can play together.. but I think I am going for some sort of silly walk - "the eternal flip" for next project, next weekend :)

And.. Yes - let me advertise for free for my hobby now shared with the planet; I have made a walk through of how to make these easy robots, everyone can make one in 2 hours:
http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-build-your-first-robot/
http://letsmakerobots.com/node/17

Thanks again, you are funky too, says the little blushing robot on yellow tracks next to me :)

[fritsl @ Mar 24th 2008 5:53PM]

I have made a sing-along version as a thank you for all the cool feedback :)

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-1229584477125883272&hl=en

[MikeWard1701 @ Jun 18th 2008 2:02PM]

So Cool! I Want one!