Man makes a machine that can play the violin

Seth Goldstein, a former engineer, has designed a machine that can play the violin. The machine is called Ro-Bow and can be seen working on a video, where he or she plays the instrument with four mechanical fingers.

The Ro-Bow is one of the projects of the hobbyist, who exhibits a number of constructions on his website. In a recently published video, Seth Goldstein explains how his machine works. In Ro-Bow, a violin can be placed that can be tilted. Meanwhile, a bow moves over the violin.

To generate different tones, Ro-Bow has four fingers: these are actually electromagnetic actuators. The whole can be connected to a computer. The system converts information from music files into notes that are then played by Ro-Bow. For example, Goldstein can select a .mid file on his PC which will then be played. It is unclear whether Ro-Bow will give concerts in the future.