News

Suck at Guitar Hero? Buy this Robot

By Owen Good on November 23, 2008 at 2:00 AM

Robots playing Guitar Hero are not new; one playing the game with up to 98 percent precision is, however. Wired found the Cythbot, a creation of southern California engineering firm Cyth Systems, at this week’s Robo developers conference in Santa Clara. It’s not actually for sale. Nor is it much more than an aluminium cage with pneumatic “fingers” to hit the frets, while a camera tells it what’s coming. Cythbot can play in both solo and compete modes, getting as high as 98 percent, but usually on average around 75 to 80 percent. This is disquieting news, as Isaac Asimov and Stephen Hawking predicted that 100 percent on “Through the Fire and the Flames” is when Skynet becomes self-aware.


Cythbot “sees” the pucks coming via a camera hooked to a doohickey that measures light intensity, and once it crosses some threshold it instructs the mechanical parts to activate the strum bar, with the corresponding pneumatic finger playing its fret. This one will actually play the whammy bar notes, unlike the earlier mod by a dad who set up an optics device to play Guitar Hero and finally defeat his son.

Lots more technical discussion at the link.

Guitar Hero Robot Plays Video Game With Electronic Precision [Wired]

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Comments (AU Comments | US Comments)

  • KrsJin
    November 23, 2008 at 4:23 AM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

  • joerocks1981
    November 23, 2008 at 4:19 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:18 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:18 AM

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  • Jesustron
    November 23, 2008 at 4:17 AM

    Read the article much?

    Jesustron

  • AbeniRELOADINGEgonon
    November 23, 2008 at 4:14 AM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

  • Ragarnok
    November 23, 2008 at 4:06 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:43 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:40 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:36 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:35 AM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

  • Jesustron
    November 23, 2008 at 4:34 AM

    @StrikeGunner:

    [www.capturedbyrobots.com]

    get with the times.

    Jesustron

  • Cojo21
    November 23, 2008 at 4:34 AM

    @Jesustron: SNARK!

    Cojo21

  • Cojo21
    November 23, 2008 at 4:31 AM

    @joerocks1981: LOL. Me too.

    Cojo21

  • havoks
    November 23, 2008 at 4:30 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:25 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:01 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:00 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:57 AM

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  • Handbanana37
    November 23, 2008 at 4:57 AM

    @undefined:

    I think the coolest part is that it operates the whammy-bar.

    Handbanana37

  • RtFusion
    November 23, 2008 at 4:56 AM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

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    November 23, 2008 at 4:45 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:14 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:11 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:09 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:41 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:24 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 6:01 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:51 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:50 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 6:06 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 7:11 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 7:06 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 7:41 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 7:49 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 8:17 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 8:07 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 11:20 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 11:15 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 11:51 AM

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    November 23, 2008 at 12:34 PM

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    November 23, 2008 at 2:33 PM

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    November 23, 2008 at 5:47 PM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

  • raddishs
    November 23, 2008 at 6:56 PM

    I need to borrow that to get my achievements.

    raddishs

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    November 23, 2008 at 10:36 PM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

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    November 24, 2008 at 4:30 AM

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    November 24, 2008 at 5:57 AM

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    November 24, 2008 at 11:00 AM

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    November 24, 2008 at 2:55 PM

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    November 24, 2008 at 6:10 PM

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    November 24, 2008 at 6:59 PM

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    November 25, 2008 at 2:48 AM

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  • joe
    November 25, 2008 at 6:22 AM

    @Kobun: best.comment.ever.

    joe

  • woons
    November 23, 2008 at 4:56 AM

    Maybe his shirt should have read,

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