High Level:
The keyboard player is able to play music by moving solenoids laterally along the keys on the keyboard by means of a gear motor moving the drawer slides on which they are mounted. Once in position, the solenoids act as fingers and push down on the correct keys. Because the gear motors are so imprecise in their movements, we were required to use a form of feedback for positional information. We implemented this with light sensors that would read reflective tape ticks along a track.
The user interface for the keyboard player is a simple 16-button keypad for inputting commands as well as an LCD character display which shows relevant information such as the current operating mode, song name, tempo, and beat. The user has the option of choosing a song, controlling a song with pause/play, or changing the tempo of the song.
Click here for a high-level schematic view of the project.
