Str1ker is a robotic drummer built with a combination of metal casting, 3D printing, CNC machining, sheet metal fabrication and pre-made components. Performance, movement, and facial expressions are controlled by MIDI, and the position of each drum is determined by using a night-vision stereo camera.

For this project my goal is to learn ::ROS, create parts that look organic by using Generative Design functionality in Autodesk Inventor, get experience with Raspberry Pi 4 micro-controller, modern servos and linear actuators, and finally build a robotic drummer for my neurometal band.

I started by prototyping a single arm out of wood to get it rotating, raising, extending, and triggering a drum stick using a solenoid on a spring:

Once the design for the robot arms was finalized, I printed and re-cast them out of Aluminum 356, then installed encoders and actuators. I also designed a head that could make facial expressions and voice hypergrowls.

Some original concept art that went into the design of the metal parts:

Next I’m integrating all four arms together, implementing inverse kinematics with MoveIt, and locating drums using OpenCV with Arducam NoIR stereo camera that can estimate positions of objects in the dark.

The project files can be downloaded by cloning the GitHub repository.