Our goal for this project is to combine my experience in robotics with my partner Matai's passion for playing the bass by creating an electric bass guitar playing robot. Matai and I are not experienced in coding and would like to learn how to program robotic components through this project. 

Our goal is for human musicians to be able to create music with our robot. This would allow us to compare and contrast these interactions to musical interactions between humans. If it was portable and durable enough to be transported, we would show it to younger generations of students to inspire them to start building their knowledge and skills in STEM subjects. This would also help people see that it's possible to combine art, music, and any interest with STEM, especially when it comes to engineering. 

We plan on making three separate mechanisms: one for plucking the strings, one for fretting on the neck, and one for muting the strings. These mechanisms will be made with programmable motors, servos, and actuators so that we can program the robot to play songs. 

Our first component was fabricating the bed. Although this is the least complicated part, it is just as important as any other mechanism we plan to build. I designed an adjustable frame that should be able to fit different types of Fender jazz basses. Each slidable brace has a nut sunk within the darker wood that will tighten by only turning the bolt. The bed will gently keep the bass still while it is being played.