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Lego robot band makes sweet, sweet tunes

A tiny robotic band made of Lego Bionicles gets down with the help of Arduino.

Michelle Starr Science editor
Michelle Starr is CNET's science editor, and she hopes to get you as enthralled with the wonders of the universe as she is. When she's not daydreaming about flying through space, she's daydreaming about bats.
Michelle Starr

(Screenshot by Michelle Starr/CNET Australia)

A tiny robotic band made of Lego Bionicles gets down with the help of Arduino.

We love bands, we love robots. We even love robot bands (as few of them as there are). Put that together with Lego, and you have Toa Mata, a tiny little band that is unlike any band we've ever seen before.

Aside from the fact that it could probably be packed into a suitcase, the little guys are made of Lego Bionicles and servos, powered by Arduino. The band is the work of music producer Giuseppe Arcito, who launched his new blog Opificio Sonico by introducing his little friends to the world.

The band members (we're unsure of precisely how many there are, but there seem to be a fair few) have been hooked up to an iPad that is running the MIDI-sequencing app Clavia NordBeat. An Arduino Uno unit then converts the notes into electrical impulses, which are sent to the motorised Bionicles to be tapped out on drum-pads, synthesisers, xylophone keys — even a Nintendo DS. They can either play pre-recorded tunes or be controlled by Acito from the synthesiser in real-time.

Interestingly, Acito called the below video "Episode 1". We hope that means we're going to be seeing a lot more of Toa Mata.

Via thecreatorsproject.com