Guitar Hero 'Slashbot' riffs uncontrollably, plots mankind's downfall

It's clear that everyone is looking for a way to game the system these days. The video game system, that is. In the vein of that Guitar Hero cheat-mod we saw the other day, four undergraduate students at Texas A&M University have built a Guitar Hero playing robot that can shred with the best of them... no hands required. The system -- dubbed Slashbot -- works as a completely standalone process, using a converter box to translate specific pixel information from the screen intro note presses and strums on the mechanical contraption. On average, the bot is achieving 90 percent accuracy in expert mode, and has yet to be defeated by a human challenger. Next up? It plans to eradicate all human life on Earth, of course! Check the video of Slashbot playing -- what else? -- Cliffs of Dover after the break.

[Lucas Schafer @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:16AM]

Through the fire and flames please.

[Elaine @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:20AM]

In expert and on hyperspeed 5!!

[Kurian @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:41AM]

The servo on the strum bar cannot strum fast enough for Through the Fire and the Flames.

[John Laur @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:32PM]

@Kurian

I am assuming you are one of the folks on this project or at least know them...

Have you thought about putting a second solenoid on the other side of the strum bar? It would halve the effort of the strum solenoid and increase the time between firings for each of the two strum solenoids. It would also help the problem of the strum solenoid not recoiling fast enough during rapid sequences as it would be forcibly recalled by the opposing solenoid's firing. I suspect this is the source of many of the missed notes in this song as it seems to miss very quick double notes that are not hammer-ons/pull offs. Installing stronger springs and overvolting the solenoids is probably also a solution but you'd probably have to put heat sinks on them at that point.

[AutoTom @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:23AM]

it actualy looks like your going to need to buy a faster servo for the strumm thingie

[corystal @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:45PM]

they're solenoids, not servos... just fyi

[The Cadet @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:34AM]

Holy mother of G*d

[Brandon @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:34AM]

I'd increase the lag slightly by a few milliseconds to give some leniency to slightly late notes.

[Deusexx @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:36AM]

Ouch!, It sounds craky.

[nxtiak @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:49AM]

"On average, the bot is achieving 90 percent accuracy in expert mode, and has yet to be defeated by a human challenger."

Uh I guess the students suck because I have friends who can constantly get higher than 90% on Expert.

[Joel @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:07AM]

Your friends must have way too much time on their hands...

[Ray @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:39AM]

Why is that? I got five starts on all the career songs on expert (Damn you raining blood) and I'm not some loser. It's just easier when you already know how to play seven real instruments...

[Doe @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:58AM]

Robot vs human ?
Well, have a look at this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9ao_vOsZkg

[Blake @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:10PM]

@joel

His friends have to much time on their hands?

What about these guys who made 'Slashbot.'

I think they have too much time on their hands.

[Ashlietta916 @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:25PM]

AGREED! i also have a few friends who can get over 90% on expert. That's precisely how we achieved over 800,000 fans and over 1,000 stars...

[hammer05 @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:43PM]

Just to clarify...these students aren't just doing this because "they have too much time on their hands." They are engineering majors at Texas A&M. This is their senior design project--required for graduation.

[CJLopez @ Apr 23rd 2008 6:32PM]

Ya may have a lot of what you want, but no body can't even think how to get something like this to work. What you do, getting over 90% of accu on expert on some rythm game, everybody can. Doing a robot to make this, only a few can, and those few are the one that really matter to humanity, the rest, ..........

[Colin @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:49AM]

Gig 'Em.

[badenglishihave @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:49AM]

Somebody had way too much time on their hands.

[MEAT! @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:53AM]

In this thread and the previous one about a father modding a Wii guitar hero, I like how people complain that the innovative hackers have "too much time on their hands," but the people who do nothing more than become experts at a video game that teaches no skills are not criticized.

[Mike @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:29AM]

THIS

[Lowest Ranked @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:21PM]

Surrender your lasagna.

[badenglishihave @ Apr 23rd 2008 4:40PM]

Both groups have too much time on their hands... although the automated Guitar Hero guys might be a bit brighter.

[Richard Pearson @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:55AM]

Being a fellow aggie I must go WHOOP!

[Mischa G @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:56AM]

Considering how much the RIAA has said you can't do with your music, it's amazing they allow you to pretend play it in Guitar Hero at all. I mean, heck, they've said you can't throw it out or back it up.
http://impatientsufferance.com/2008/04/23/more-things-you-cant-do-with-your-music-185/
Why not say you can't have fun with it either.

[Adam Hudson @ Apr 23rd 2008 9:58AM]

misguided genius??

[grunertag24 @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:01AM]

People complaining about them having too much time, what if they are in an Engineering class and that is their final project or something for the class. o yea and Gig 'em!

[Tom @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:02AM]

I, for one, welcome our new guitar-hero-playing robotic overlords.

[pxpaulx @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:17AM]

BOO.

[carterman @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:11AM]

Personally, I've always felt that Texas A&M would have some role in the destruction of humanity, and frankly, they're only proving me right.

[princeofvegetables @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:19AM]

But can it whammy?

[mxlplx @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:29AM]

Incredible, if a few college students make a Guitar Hero robot they get the pat on the back. If an engineer father creates one to punk his son it is called a complete waste of time. I think most Engadget readers have serious daddy issues.

[David Giesberg @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:43AM]

When did they get electricity in College Station?

[couchpundit @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:29AM]

Over in the corner, if you watch the video carefully, you can see about 2 dozen highly caffeinated rodents on their little generator exercise wheels.

College Station is pronounced "Cultural Starvation"

[Whingnut @ Apr 23rd 2008 10:46AM]

I have noticed that while I am playing, if I'm strumming too hard or quickly, the strummer may register an extra strum because it moves slightly beyond the middle position. If I make sure to "guide" the strummer back to center instead of letting it return on it's own I have less mis-hits. Slowed me down a bit at first until I learned to strum up and down instead of just "flicking" the strummer.

[Lattyware @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:02AM]

Why not just send the signals to the 360, rather than doing something so expensive? It'd also 100% it all of the time.

Of course, I know the answer, this looks cool while it does it.

[couchpundit @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:22AM]

Yeah, but can it play the Aggie War Hymn? I think not.

If necessity is the mother of invention, our needs are so f***ed up...

[LOs @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:35AM]

Necessity may be it's mother. Boredom, however, is Invention's dead beat beer-swilling mildly abusive father.

[Tim @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:29AM]

It can't handle the star power section because all the notes become the same color. I say a human could definitely beat it!

[Paul @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:01PM]

Color is irrelevent.

[Alex G @ Apr 23rd 2008 11:50AM]

@nxtiak
I'm in the same boat as you.

GH3's windows are along the same lines at CS:S head shot hitboxes: XBOX HUGE. Anyone with fairly decent timing and was 4*ing most songs on GH2 could 5* half of GH3 on a first run.

Anyway, if you wanted the bot perfect, program the bot with the notecharts. Then you wouldn't even need to detect anything. You could even set the optimal star power paths. ScoreHero status bot. Granted, it wouldn't be able to do the squeezes without fudging the timing a bit, but for all intensive purposes 100%s with optimal star power is good enough.

[redtape @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:03PM]

@ Alex G

More humiliating to be beaten by something that makes one or two mistakes than by something that never fails :)

[andy @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:04PM]

nice use of the NI PXI chassis! Program by paint rocks!!

[Fernando @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:09PM]

Today it's a cute little robot that plays video games. Tomorrow it starts searching for Sarah Connor.

[Soy @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:12PM]

But can it play Crysis?!?!?!?

[Ed @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:58PM]

Your comment is DOOMed to fail.

[Terpy @ Apr 23rd 2008 12:29PM]

Damn my meaty fingers, its your fault I suck.

[Joseph @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:04PM]

I'm surprised no one has told that robot to go play a real guitar.

[deadheadfargo @ Apr 23rd 2008 1:35PM]

Cool, but how about some real robot guitar. Go see the band Captured By Robots.

http://www.capturedbyrobots.com/gtrbot.htm

[Regality @ Apr 23rd 2008 2:00PM]

lol that Conrad video is old and the kid sucks. Terrible vid. 300,000 is a bad score for Through the Fire and Flames. Check this vid out. #1 kid at the song in the world: http://youtube.com/watch?v=peqio4qn9FM