MegCell Pulse: A Pair of 3D-Printed Robots That Play Guitar Together

Two 3D-Printed Robots, One Acoustic Guitar

A maker named Bruce spent six years building something that would make Animusic proud: a pair of 3D-printed robots that play a real acoustic guitar together. One robot handles the fretting. The other plucks the strings via six individual plectrums. Feed them digital tablature and off they go, producing analog sound from a physical instrument.

The system, called MegCell Pulse, is built around gears, magnetic actuators, and arms, all housed in a 3D-printed frame. The concept is simple but the execution is intricate. The robots cannot slide between frets, and they cannot reach the full length of the fretboard, but within those limits they produce surprisingly musical results.

Buy the Plans, Print It Yourself

MegCell Pulse is not sold fully assembled. Bruce launched a Kickstarter campaign offering the complete digital package for $100. That gets you the 3D print files, an assembly guide, control software, and a full parts list. You print the pieces, source the hardware, and build it yourself.

The DIY angle is part of the appeal. A $100 kit is remarkably affordable for a project of this complexity, and the open-file approach means the community can modify and improve the design. Hackaday readers will recognize the spirit: this is a project made to be shared, tweaked, and extended.

Why It Matters for Makers

MegCell Pulse sits at the intersection of desktop 3D printing, robotics, and music. For anyone who has printed mechanical parts and wondered what to build next, it is a compelling showcase of what is possible when you combine FDM-printed structures with off-the-shelf motion hardware. The project also demonstrates how a solo maker can develop something genuinely novel over a multi-year timeline.

The Kickstarter page includes demo videos that are worth watching. The robots are not perfectly fluid, but they are clearly functional, and hearing a real guitar being played by printed plastic parts is a strangely satisfying experience.

Source: Hackaday