The RobOrchestra team is a group of undergraduates from a medley of disciplines that is dedicated to creating a musical ensemble composed solely of robotic instruments. Using a combination of ingenuity, classroom knowledge, and old-fashioned trial and error, the team has designed and implemented a series of robotic musicians that generate and play music of their own devising.

Members of the RobOrchestra team come from Computer Science, Mechanical Engineering, Music Composition, Materials Science, and Electrical & Computer Engineering. This blend of knowledge affords the project a great resource in the undergraduate students involved.

Many members of the team have played a musical instrument in excess of nine years. Several members are well-versed in music theory and lend their aid to the music generation algorithm.

The team advisor, Roger Dannenberg, has years of experience in the field of computer music generation and musical theory. He also built McBlare, a popular robotic bagpipe. Professor Dannenberg is a valuable resource to the team and offers his knowledge to the team members unconditionally.

The RobOrchestra project is part of the Carnegie Mellon Robotics Club. The project is funded in part by the Undergraduate Research Office (URO) by means of a Small Undergraduate Research Grant (SURG). The URO awards grants annually based on a project proposal submitted each spring or fall. That funding source has enabled the project to continue into its fourth year.

RobOrchestra is a popular project at the annual Meeting of the Minds, a research symposium that takes place at CMU each spring. The team sets up several of the instruments and allows them to play from time to time. As the only musical project at the symposium, people flock to the display to see what the racket is all about. The MoM symposium has also netted the team an alternate source of funding: prize money. RobOrchestra III received the Studio for Creative Inquiry award two years in a row -- an unprecedented feat.