Refinement of a Thai Flute-Playing Robot in Thai Style

Abstract

This research aims to establish a Thai flute (khlui)-playing robot with realistic and natural sounds in traditional Thai style. First, an overview of the developed robot system is presented. Second, the refinement of the blown air flow rate control part, including the choice of the flow sensor, and its calibration method of dynamic characteristics are explained. Third, the refinement of the fingering control part is explained followed by an explanation of how to realize the expression, called glissando (i.e., gliding sound as a group of notes are connected). Finally, the proposed blown air flow control part and the proposed fingering force control part are combined, and the flow rate and the fingering force are simultaneously controlled to realize special sound effects, such as pure tremolo and vibrato.