Arduino-Controlled Robotic Drum
by randofo in Circuits > Arduino
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Arduino-Controlled Robotic Drum
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For years I have been telling anyone who listens that I was going to build a robotic drum. Most people kind of shrugged indifferently. Even as I built it, most people kind of glanced over at it and conveyed doubtfulness. It seemed like no one but myself was convinced of just how awesome it was going to be.
I received a lot of snarky comments about how I was making a strange annoying noise maker. When I finally go it set up for the trial run, I quickly silenced the naysayers. This robotic drum blew everyone away. I was finally able to convey my vision and explain why someone would ever want to build a robotic drum.
The reason to build a robotic drum is because it is plain super-awesome. It keeps a beat like clockwork. You can slow down and speed up any drum beat with precision and ease. It can even play things a real human drummer could never do.
I intend to use mine for rocking out. The current plan is to program it with different drum beats and play guitar along with it.
I decided to use linear actuators (car door lock motors to be exact), and Arduinos with motor controller shields simply for ease of use and duplication. I am sure there are other more elegant ways to interface with the motors, but this is by far the easiest.
Go Get Stuff
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You will need:
(x1) Drum set
(x12) Drum sticks
(x2) Cymbal stands
(x12) Car door lock actuator motor
(x6) Arduino Uno
(x6) Arduino Motor Shield
(x1) 7" x 5" x 3" project enclosure
(x1) Terminal strip
(x2) 18 AWG speaker wire
(x3) Panel mount power socket
(x1) 1/4" mono jack
(x1) 1/4" mono plug
(x1) 4" zip tie
(x1) Stranded 22 AWG red and black wire spools
(x1) Assorted shrink tube
(x3) 9V 2A power adapters
(x1) Power strip
(x1) 7 port USB hub
(x6) 6' USB A to B cable
(x1) 4' x 8' x 1/4" plywood sheet
(x4) 1/2" pipe mounting flange
(x1) 24" x 1/2" threaded pipe
(x1) 18" x 1/2" threaded pipe
(x8) 1/2" pipe L-bracket
(x2) 1/2" pipe T-bracket
(x2) 1" x 1/2" threaded pipe
(x4) 2" x 1/2" threaded pipe
(x4) 2-1/2" x 1/2" threaded pipe
(x2) 3" x 1/2" threaded pipe
(x3) 3/4" x 10' 22 gauge steel hanger strap
(x16) 8 - 1/2" wood screws
(x20) 1/4 x 5" bolts
(x4) 1/4 x 2" bolts
(x1) Box of 1/4 nuts
(x22) 6-32 x 2" nuts and bolts
(x4) 6-32 x 1" nuts and bolts
(x11) 1-1/2" binding posts
(x20) 1-1/2" (1/4" i.d.) spacers
(x18) 4-40 x 1-1.2" nuts and bolts
(x18) 1/4" (1/8" i.d.) spacers
You will also need to download the attached files and laser cut (or cut the old fashioned way) the following:
(x16) Drum brackets
(x6) Cymbal brackets
(x4) Cymbal bracket circle spacers
(x2) Kick drum brackets
Please note that some of the links on this page contain Amazon affiliate links. This does not change the price of any of the items for sale. However, I earn a small commission if you click on any of those links and buy anything. I reinvest this money into materials and tools for future projects. If you would like an alternate suggestion for a supplier of any of the parts, please let me know.
Attach the Motor
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Take two of the pieces of the standard drum bracket (without Arduino mounting holes) and sandwich a motor in-between. Fasten it through the center mounting holes using 6-32 nuts and bolts.
Make Another
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Once the bolts are passed through, make another motor bracket "sandwich" like you did in the last step.
Motor Pair
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Repeat for all of the other holes.
Thread a nut all the way down one of the bolts to hold it in place, and then repeat for all of the other bolts
Slide a spacer over each of the bolts and then thread more nuts on to hold them all in place.
Slide the other motor bracket "sandwich" onto the bolt.
Fasten everything securely in place with another nut.
Drill a Hole
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Make a mark at 5-1/8" and 7-1/4".
Drill down through all of these marks with a 3/16" drill bit, to leave an identical pair of holes in each stick
Repeat this process 5 more times, to make 6 sets of drilled drum sticks.
Attach Drum Sticks
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Pass a binding post from the outside of the assembly through the corner pivot hole, through the hole in the drumstick closer to the tip, and then through the inner pivot hole.
Fasten the binding post shut.
Zip tie the drum sticks to the motor assembly using the other drilled hole.
Repeat this process for the other motor.
Build More
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Glue and Clamp
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To attach this wood piece, simply lay down a little bit of wood glue, align the pre-drilled 1/8" pilot holes, and then once aligned, clamp them in place.
Don't forget to make certain that one of the pieces you are gluing the wood piece to has holes for mounting the Arduino.
Motor Brackets
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Assemble
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Build the Mount
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Connect L-brackets to each end of the respective threaded pipes.
Thread a 2" section of threaded pipe onto the end of each L-bracket.
Again, put L-brackets on the end of each respective threaded pipe.
Thread a 1" section of threaded pipe onto the end of each L-bracket.
Finally, attach flanges to the end of each threaded pipe.
Attach
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Rotate the flanges as necessary so that the pilot holes are aligned with the flange's mounting holes.
Fasten the drumstick assembly to the mounting bracket place with wood screws.
18" Pipe
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Connect Drum Sticks
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Again, zip tie the drum sticks to the linear motor assembly.
Clamp and Glue Again
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Make sure that when you do this, the extra piece of wood will be on the outside when you make your motor "sandwich."
Simply lay down a little bit of wood glue, align the pre-drilled 1/8" pilot holes, and then once aligned, clamp them in place.
Assemble
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Assemble it accordingly, with the extra bits of wood facing out.
Don't forget to install the Arduino mounting screws as well.
Build Another Mount
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Connect L-brackets to each end of the respective threaded pipes.
Thread a 2-1/2" section of threaded pipe onto the end of each L-bracket.
Again, put L-brackets on the end of each respective threaded pipe.
Thread a 2" section of threaded pipe onto the end of each L-bracket.
Finally, attach flanges to the end of each threaded pipe.
Fasten
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24" Pipe
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Connect the Drum Stick
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Prepare the Kick Drum Pedal
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Remove the spring that is keeping tension on the pedal's rotational assembly.
Using the mounting holes in the wooden bracket as a guide, drill 1/4" holes on both sides of the pedal. This should result in 2 holes on each side of the pedal.
Attach
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Spacers
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Insert 5" x 1/4 bolts through the bracket's structural mounting holes, using the pens as spacers in-between the two.
Fasten each bolt firmly in place with a nut.
Attach Motor
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Attach the motor to the wooden bracket using 6-32 nuts and bolts.
Zip tie the motor shaft to the rotational pivot of the kick drum pedal.
Socket
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If the motor does not have red or black wires, designate one of the colors to be ground and the other to be power. In this case, the green wire will be ground.
Jack
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Solder the marked edge of the speaker wire to the ground terminal.
Solder the unmarked edge to the tip terminal.
Reassemble the plug when you are done.
Snare
![27A.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F88/8YB5/H5E9Q6S2/F888YB5H5E9Q6S2.jpg&filename=27A.jpg)
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Toms
![43A.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F69/Q2PR/H5Y9VJ3V/F69Q2PRH5Y9VJ3V.jpg&filename=43A.jpg)
Floor Tom
![44A.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FYO/AOAE/H63P3V9B/FYOAOAEH63P3V9B.jpg&filename=44A.jpg)
Cymbal Strikers
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Kick Drum
![41A.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F15/LERC/H5ZJKYGO/F15LERCH5ZJKYGO.jpg&filename=41A.jpg)
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Plug in the Shields
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However, before you go and do this, bend the shields Vin pin so that it will not plug in to the Arduino. This is done to prevent the Arduino from getting directly connected to the voltage input on the motor controller, which is rather high and runs the risk of spiking.
Alternately, if you don't want to preserve this functionality on the shield, cut the pin away entirely.
Program the Arduinos
![32A.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/F3P/WFGJ/H5JVX0X0/F3PWFGJH5JVX0X0.jpg&filename=32A.jpg)
Hi Hat Arduino:
Snare Arduino:
Cymbal, and Kick Drum Arduino:
Small Tom Arduino:
Large Tom Arduino:
Floor Tom Arduino:
Attach
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Remove the nuts from the Arduino mounting bolts that were inserted earlier.
Next, slide 1/4" spacers onto the bolts.
Finally, mount the Arduino using these bolts and fasten them firmly in place with nuts.
Extend
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Cover any exposed wires with heat shrink tubing.
Plug
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For the most part, it is not really important which is which, so long as it is a single motor to a single channel.
The one exception to this rule is the Arduino that controls the kick drum and the cymbal, but we will touch more on this in a moment.
Drill
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Drill each of this marks with a 5/16" drill bit.
Jacks
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Mount the jacks into three of the holes side-by-side on one side of the case.
Wire It Up
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Wire them up such that it is alternating power and ground, and each jack is supplying power to two pairs on the strip. In other words, each jack should be supplying power and ground twice.
Connect the speaker wire to the first pair so that the marked edge of the wire is going to ground and the unmarked edge is going to power. Repeat this for all subsequent pairs.
Case Closed
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Make sure the terminals strip is nicely situated inside the box.
Put the lid onto the power box and fasten it shut.
Set Up
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The snare and floor tom (not pictured) can just stand on the floor in their typical places.
Cymbals
![26A.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FMB/NS86/H672X5BK/FMBNS86H672X5BK.jpg&filename=26A.jpg)
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These cymbals and strikers can then be positioned in their normal drum kit location.
Plug Some Stuff In
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Plug the marked edge of the 1/4" plug cable into the "Motor A" minus terminal on the cymbal assembly's motor shield. Plug the unmarked edge into the plus terminal of the cymbal assembly's motor shield. Insert the 1/4" plug into the 1/4" jack on the kick drum.
Plug the three 9V power adapters into the power strip, and insert their barrel plugs into the M-type jacks on the power supply box.
Plug a USB wire into each of the Arduinos and then plug them all into the USB hub.
Sequence
![cap010.jpg](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FZO/UPCI/H5EDUBN8/FZOUPCIH5EDUBN8.jpg&filename=cap010.jpg)
To use the drum kit, first connect the USB hub to your computer and make sure the power strip is powered on.
Next, visit the Max MSP site and download Max5 Runtime (Mac / Windows).
Download the attached zip file with the "robo drums sequencer57600" Max patch.
Run "robo drums sequencer57600.maxpat" using Max5 Runtime.
This Max patch was created by the amazing Amanda Ghassaei - Max MSP Ninja and loosely certified Instructables Genius. This project would have taken much longer, and probably have not been quite as awesome, without her world class Max MSP skills.
![](/proxy/?url=https://content.instructables.com/FP8/ABPR/K9R2LUOD/FP8ABPRK9R2LUOD.jpg?auto=webp&crop=1:1&frame=1&width=320)
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