Engineering School Innovations: Pitcher Perfect Tuner

Feb. 27, 2012
With the goal of creating a device to help music students improve their skills on the trumpet, engineering students at the University of California, San Diego, employ microcontrollers, servo motors and software to create a device that enables a trumpet to hit the perfect pitch.

The idea behind this project was to create an instrumental tuner for a trumpet that not only determined the pitch, but also adjusted it for you. This concept was inspired by the difficulty of beginning trumpet players to learn tuning and recognize what pitch to listen to. Through automated adjustment, the system is insensitive to naturally out of tune notes and temperature variation. Using sound acquisition, signal processing, and mechanical control, a prototype was realized that found a pitch center within 3 seconds for a range of notes with an accuracy of 1Hz.

Students: Jason Caffrey, Eddie Gibb
University: The University of California, San Diego – Bioengineering
Equipment Used
National Instruments myDAQ and LabVIEW 2010 student edition and ELVISmx
Eastman TR-400 trumpet
Sony Vaio VGN-FW139E laptop
Arduino Duemilanove with ATmega328 microcontroller with prototype boardshield
Electret condenser microphone
Powered prototype board
Power HD-2400A servo motor
Video
See a video of the Pitcher Perfect Tuner in action below to learn more about the design and engineering behind it.

Automation World would like to thank National Instruments for connecting us with the UCSD Pitcher Perfect Tuner team to make this "Engineering School Innovations" installment possible.

If you know of an engineering school project we should feature, contact [email protected].

About the Author

David Greenfield, editor in chief | Editor in Chief

David Greenfield joined Automation World in June 2011. Bringing a wealth of industry knowledge and media experience to his position, David’s contributions can be found in AW’s print and online editions and custom projects. Earlier in his career, David was Editorial Director of Design News at UBM Electronics, and prior to joining UBM, he was Editorial Director of Control Engineering at Reed Business Information, where he also worked on Manufacturing Business Technology as Publisher. 

Companies in this Article

Sponsored Recommendations

Meet our experts - Reduce complexity of a DCS Migration

Sign up for a complementary onsite assessment.

Revolutionizing Germany’s energy landscape: The Wilhelmshaven floating LNG terminal

The German LNG terminal lays the groundwork for future sustainable energy initiatives. Here's how Schneider Electric helped make it happen.

Navigating Distributed Control Systems Migration

Navigating Distributed Control System (DCS) migrations doesn't have to be as complex as it seems. Whether you are planning a migration or seeking to enhance ...

Revolutionize process safety with Tricon CX V12

The most versatile TÜV certified safety instrumented system. One system with a choice of architectures and form factors delivering a lifetime of safe, resili...