Probably? I’ve never made an electric moving thing that wasn’t made of technic lego so it’s all new to me 
Concern would be handling the rebound. Steppers want to hold their position, right?
Robot drummer
Only if they are powered…you could probably get one moving and then cut the power to let it rebound.
Given your desire for loud hits, I think you will need a long “stick travel” path for snares, toms and ride/crash cymbals. I was watching a drummer on Sunday and he raised the stick quite high above the snare , then used the rotation and leverage to turn the stick momentum into a pretty hard impact on the skin, which results in the loud noise. I just don’t think you will get this kind of power from the limited travel of solenoids or steppers.
Yeah, see upthread for some physics. To get a 10m/s impact with a standard drumstick, pivoting at one end, in 20ms (assuming a single stick playing 8th notes at 180bpm) I need 4Nm of torque, which is a fair bit for a stepper. At least £70.
Of course, then you’d lose track of where it was. So you’d probably need a limit switch or some kind of optical equivalent.
If knowing the precise position and velocity is important, you may want to implement some kind of feedback position with a rotary encoder, plus some sort of PID controller to get the motion you want.
A DC motor would handle the rebound fine, it’s just getting the torque and velocity combo thats tricky.
Although what about a chain and can mechanism you get on kick pedals ? The cam might allow you to get the velocity and torque right when it actually hits the drum, whilst giving the motor an easier time to build up momentum ?
We are about to throw away a load of moter that will be good drummer’s
Keep em! I’ll take that shelving angle too
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The Dexion shelving is tied up and stacked for you in the snug, standing up against the wall to the right of the table where the welding stuff is. Thank @naxxfish for gathering it up and tying it together with wire.
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Baby steps…
Saw this at European Media Art Festival. Was loud and fast, tho’ I suspect the loud bit was helped by the acoustics of a large church.
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I got this idea out of my head (which is where it’ll stay thank you) but oh my god look at this
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Amazing 