TrashTalker

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  TraskTalker creators searching for bottles to use for their newest invention idea

Inspiration

We were thinking about cool ways to create music, when it came to us that we could reuse waste to create music!

What it does

In its final form, TrashTalker takes any sheet music and converts it into music it can play within seconds. For now, we can play a select number of songs, as well as midi files transposed into one octave.

How we built it

We essentially took advantage of every trashcan we could find. From dirty beer bottles to citrus flavored laxative, we explored all aspects of commonly recyclable waste to breathe new life into these objects.

Challenges we ran into

We had an extremely difficult time deciding on how to produce the sounds. We tried strings of various tensions and swinging paddles hitting mason jars until we eventually settled on nuts dropped onto glass bottles.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We quickly realized that this project was going to be a lot to handle for a 20hr makeathon, but despite our initial doubts, everyone was able to pull together and contribute to something bigger than themselves in the end.

What we learned

We learned the importance of specialization. Everyone in the group was tasked with a separate aspect of the project, be it coding, machining, or wiring. But we believe that our split efforts made this a worthwhile and fulfilling experience.

What's next for TrashTalker

At this point, TrashTalker is limited to 8 tones. We hope to expand its musical range significantly in the future with more bottles and more motors for more beautiful sounds.

Built With

• java
• javascript
• matlab
• node.js