Description
When a musical box is mentioned, what comes to mind? Is it the turning of a key, the echoing of a tune or an intricately crafted small wooden box?
Our project elevates the typical idea of a musical box. Not only is our box bigger, it can also produce more tunes and users are given greater autonomy in toggling the box.
Our musical box!
Housed in a 12 by 12 by 12 inch clear acrylic box, piezo sensors are attached to 3D printed keys to detect vibration. A super bouncy ball is rolled down a ramp with up to three degrees of freedom and depending on which keys are hit, either a note or a musical tune will be produced!
Besides a musical mode, our musical box also incorporates a game mode. Each key is assigned either 1, 2 or 3 points and points are accumulated when the keys are hit. Try to gather as many points as possible within the time limit of 2 minutes.
Layout on each face of box
Vision
We hope to be able to create a fun tool for users of all ages, be it to beat another’s high score, or to produce a melodious tune.
Additionally, we hope that our musical box can be used in the educational scene for insights into projectile motion. With a large enough box as well as allowance for variations in the angle and height of rolling down the ball, observations and investigations may be made into 3D projectile motion. 3D projectile motion is often difficult to be simulated consistently and we hope that our tool, with equipped instruments for measurements of angle, can facilitate the process.