Stepper Organ

Background

Though I've gotten opportunities to work with Arduino and electronics in the past as part of my Biomechanics Research and Junior Design project, I feel I have much to learn in working with motors and other electronics. I believe a really interesting and novel way to further both my understanding of music as well as electronics is to make a stepper organ. The premise is that stepper motors produce a varying pitch depending on the speed of their rotation, allowing music to be made.

I am basing my efforts on the work of a few others, namely David Scholten and Jonathan Kayne. I hope to stretch my troubleshooting skills and get to apply or grow my circuits knowledge!

Outline

When I worked with Arduino in the past I found it easy to get lost if one does not take small and clear steps, so I'm starting this project by identifying some goals and the steps I plan to take in order to achieve them.

Primary Goal: Get a set of four stepper motors to perform songs recognizably using data from a midi file made beforehand.

Additional Goals (descending in importance):

1. Allow my MIDI keyboard to connect and play notes corresponding to keyboard inputs with low latency.

2. Consolidate the motors into a portable and protective case.

3. Add extra features like an LCD showing information about the song, power button, etc.

4. Add an additional set of four motors by duplicating the project, then have both boards communicate with each other to increase to eight voices.

Plan:

• Create a high-level overview schematic of the system as I understand it

• Examine each component and note the purposes at a pin level

• Connect a single motor and get it to move

• Familiarize myself with the MIDI software and Arduino libraries needed to send note information

• Add additional motors, assess whether I need a higher voltage power supply and get one if needed

• Test with a simple and short song to the motors (Happy Birthday)

• Make adjustments to the pitches as necessary

• Test with a longer song (Toejam and Earl theme)

Schematics relating all the hardware:

I also gather datasheets for each component I plan to use. Usually this is because I need one value immediately, but they are an excellent resource to have on hand while troubleshooting. Knowing the electrical specifications of my hardware will reduce the likelihood that I damage them.

Datasheet for the NEMA17 stepper motors used in this project. The motor dimensions will be helpful when designing an enclosure, while the wiring diagram helps me with electronic connections and motor control.