Anyone who enjoys mechanical keyboards and typewriters has inevitably come across the famous piece "The Typewriter", created by American composer Leroy Anderson. Well, someone decided to take their fascination a step further, modifying an electric Smith Corona typewriter with solenoids and Arduino hardware to play the song autonomously.
The Performance
The situation at each of its performances is more or less similar: The typewriter operator appears on stage pushing a small table, asks for a seat, loads paper into the machine, sits down and settles in, while the orchestra conductor looks at him as if about to kick him. Obviously, the final result is extraordinary. "The Typewriter" is not only a piece that demands skill, but also perfectly fulfills the role of "comic relief" that many orchestras resort to these days. Leroy Anderson wrote it in 1950, and despite its 65 years, it hasn't aged a bit. YouTube is full of versions by different orchestras; however, what we have here today is very special.
The Modification
In the video we can see an electric Smith Corona Sterling Automatic 12 typewriter (1960, for those who want to know the year), modified by Chris Gregg of Tufts University. The process was not fast (there was a four-year pause) and not at all simple. Although the typewriter is electric, the switches under each key were not electronic, so he had to implement a complex system of solenoids to press the keys at the right time. The solenoids receive commands through an Arduino Uno, which in turn is controlled by an OS X application. From a certain point of view, what Gregg did was transform the typewriter into a printer.
The PCB design, laser cuts for the supports, the acrylic, and 130 dollars invested in solenoids have made this adventure very complicated, but it was definitely worth it. All the relevant information to replicate Gregg's results is on the official site. I imagine there must be many shortcuts if the plan is to make the development simpler...
