Robot playing the flute

Classical artists have reason to be afraid that robots play hard to play good music because anyway it's just a machine. But with the robot flute by Waseda University (Japan), everything is different.

The flute player of Flight of the Bumblebee perfectly

This robot is called WF-4RIV, which can perfectly smooth the melody of Flight of the Bumblebee. It was recently presented at the BioRob conference in Arizona.

The WF-4RIV has been improved from previous versions of the flute robot. It has the mouth and the lungs designed with the human-like principle, which mimics the flow control of professional flute players.

The scientists also created this robot with a human-like elastic lip and can control the shape of the lips. The robot's tongue is also designed to be able to blow and control airflow at high speed when it comes to performing the famous Flight of the Bumblebee.

The WF-4RIV even has an internal mechanism to create oscillation that changes the amplitude and frequency of the airflow. In addition, with two binocular cameras, the robot interacts with the audience and the musicians around it, so it can play double instruments with a different musician.

Previous versions of flute robots (from left to right): WF1 (1990), WF2 (1992) and WF3RIX (2002)

Robot musical instruments have been studied since 1990 with many different versions and the WF-4RIV is the latest version. According to researchers, it will be a formidable competitor of professional musicians on the ability to appeal to audiences for classical music.

Scientists hope the WF-4RIV robot will be more sophisticated in the future, able to interact with humans better and be able to teach music to students.