Playing the vast majority of piano pieces without the use of both hands is impossible and retrofitting a piano to be a digital player piano is an expensive endeavor. This project is to design and build a replicable system that modifies an existing acoustic piano to be played by an automated system with the option of accompanying a pianist to play a duet or overcome a physical barrier.

The applications of this project include giving amputees the ability to play piano pieces, providing a digital player piano that utilizes a mechanical keyboard, and providing a practice tool in general through the modification of tempo and ability to focus on certain parts of songs. The expected result is a marketable prototype with these features that can be installed in a modern piano more efficiently than current market options. With primary customer Ron Dufort, from Xerox, this project has high support.

For an updated project description, click on the following link for the Project Readiness Package.

Current state of the Player Piano

Project Name

Computer Automated Piano

Project Number

P17363

Start Term

2161

End Term

2165

Faculty Guide August-December

Russ Phelps, mlpddm@rit.edu, russellphelps56@gmail.com

Faculty Guide December-May

Louis Beato ljbeec@rit.edu

Primary Customer and Supporter: Ron Dufort, Xerox Corp

Team values

Planning & Execution

Project Photos and Videos

Imagine RIT

Problem Definition

Systems Design

Preliminary Detailed Design

Detailed Design

Build & Test Prep

Subsystem Build & Test

Integrated System Build & Test

Integrated System Build & Test with Customer Demo

Customer Handoff & Final Project Documentation