Waseda Flutist Robot No.4 Refined VI

Overview

The Waseda Flutist is a robot that can play the flute just like a human can. It has lungs, a mouth, and a tongue that are closely modeled on human organs, and it's technically proficient, albeit robotic. The robot performs a duet with a professional flutist. The Waseda Flutist was created by Atsuo Takanishi, Jorge Solis, and colleagues at Waseda University, in Tokyo. The Flutist robot is essentially made up of two acrylic cylinders and bellows for the lungs, a vibrato mechanism to imitate human vocal cords, an artificial tongue and lips made of a thermoplastic rubber called Septon, two CCD cameras for the eyes, and flexible arms and fingers that can open and close. Together, these 'organs' have 41 degrees of freedom and are driven by complex mechanical systems of motorized levers and pulleys under the control of actuators and a computer.