Expressive musical robots : building, evaluating, and interfacing with an ensemble of mechatronic instruments : a thesis submitted to the Victoria University of Wellington in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Abstract

An increase in the number of parameters of expression on musical robots can result in an
\nincrease in their expressivity as musical instruments. This thesis focuses on the design,
\nconstruction, and implementation of four new robotic instruments, each designed to add
\nmore parametric control than is typical for the current state of the art of musical robotics.
\nThe principles followed in the building of the four new instruments are scalable and can
\nbe applied to musical robotics in general: the techniques exhibited in this thesis for
\nthe construction and use of musical robotics can be used by composers, musicians, and
\ninstallation artists to add expressive depth to their own works with robotic instruments.
\nAccompanying the increase in parametric depth applied to the musical robotics is an
\nincrease in di culty in interfacing with them: robots with a greater number of actuators
\nrequire more time to program. This document aims to address this problem in two
\nways: the use of closed-loop control for low-level adjustments of the robots and the use
\nof a parametric encoding-equipped musical robot network to provide composers with
\nintuitive musical commands for the robots.
\nThe musical robots introduced, described, and applied in this thesis were conceived of as
\nmusical instruments for performance and installation use by artists. This thesis closes
\nwith an exhibition of the performance and installation uses of these new robots and with
\na discussion of future research directions.