University puts the squeeze on robotics

A microprocessor-driven robotic concertina developed at the University of Adelaide and sponsored by NICTA, has won second place in an international technology contest, the Artemis Orchestra competition in Nice, France.

The winning team consisted of University of Adelaide mechanical engineering masters students Mohsen Bazghaleh, Yudi Wang, Long Xin, Jia You, Chen Fei Yu, Yin Yuan and lecturer Dr Steven Grainger.

The 48-key robotic concertina was designed and built as part of a masters student project at the university.

NICTA sponsored the concertina's entry into the competition. Last year, NICTA held a national competition to search for a suitable entry into the Artemis competition.

The concertina won the Candiago Cup Challenge. It is the second time that the university's mechanical engineering school has been represented at the Artemis competition, earning second place in Berlin in 2007 with a robotic violin design.

Dr Grainger, said the concertina was controlled by a microprocessor-based system that drives the bellows via an electric motor and uses feedback to control the air pressure.

It also operates electromechanical wires that open and close valves, letting air flow over the sound-producing reeds.

At the competition, the 48-key Stagi English tenor concertina played a number of pieces including Rimsky-Korsakov's Flight of the Bumblebee.