Application & Implications
The guitar, will be able to play musical notes, via a conductive element such as copper or an electric conductive paint.
The reason, I choose painted or pasted strings, instead of conventional strings, is when I saw my nephew (then 2 years of age) pulling the strings of my guitar and it almost looked like the strings were about to snap.
I then thought, how awesome would it be to teach him about music, electronics and building all in one hit, just by tough (or in his case hitting on the instrument)? It went even further with children/adults with pyhsical disabilities. Would it not be easier for them to touch chords and scales, by just touching and sliding, instead of struggeling with chords that look as if your hand is a spider?
Regarding the conductive ink and using it for instrumental applications, Vahakn Matossian from Human Instruments,
in collaboration with Bare Conductive, are already busy with developing musical instruments for people with physical disabilities. Here is a link to the article: Programming Expression
For saving some time here is the video:
* Acryllic Glass is optional depending on the design
The plan is to find as many of the materials needed for the conductive strings, locally. Such as the Active Carbon, The Absorbic Acid and or the Copper Sulphate.
Active Carbon can literally be self made, by burning some wood (bbq anytone?), the vinegar is about $1 and some clear glue costs around the same.
Most of the other materials can be found in the lab.
| Product | Unit | Price per unit |
|---|---|---|
| Cu Tape 5mm | 1 piece | $5.88 |
| 9 mm Plywood. | 1 piece | $30.49 |
| Gorrila Wood Glue | 1 bottle | $3.15 |
| Total Price | $39.52 |
The Body for the guitar will be made either with the Shopbot or Lazer cutter.
The PCBs will be made with the Stepcraft or any other PCB capable mill.
The desing of the modular guitar will be done mstly with Fusion 360 and wherever applicable Inkscape.
The fabrication will be done with the lasercutter or mill.
The PCB software of choice for designing is EagleCAD, FlatCAM and Candle/WinPC-UCNC.
If there are any part to be made by myself, it will most likely be the assembly of the parts.
The pieces of the guitar, will have to be glued together with wood glue and clamps to achieve a thicker body.
I will use the body I milled during week 8, and lasercut the missing pieces, because of time crunch.
The arduino based board, will be the controller, so I need to design, mill, stuff and program if the need for more MCU boards are required.
The conductive strings will have to be tested and how effective they are per mm/cm/inch.
For April I will have the body of the guitar ready ( I already have a prototype, but will use lighter plywood.)
May: I want to have the code down, so I will be testing with commercial Arduino boards, to know how I will design the final Fabduino.
Finalise the guitar.
For evalutation, it is planned to test with children, from Stichting De Ruimte which is a foundation for the development of children with physical disabilities.
Also to test it with musicians, just to hear their feedback and advise.
Will the guitar be too clunky for children and the physically challenged?
Will it interest and keep them interested as is (protoype)?