If you made a list of 1,000 jobs robots will eventually perform, I suspect that orchestra conductor would not be on your list. Yet, this is exactly what has happened. In an
ASME article, I learned that ABB, the well-known Swiss corporation, adapted one of its robots to do just that. Its name is YuMi. It would be the first time a robot has conducted a live orchestra. It normally takes someone years to become even a mediocre conductor, however it took YuMi only a couple of days to learn the very complex piece it would conduct. No programming language was involved, mostly what those in the robot industry call "lead-through programming.” The conductor, Andrea Cassoni, led YuMi through the piece by holding right hands, then did the piece again using left hands. ABB used one of their programs, RobotStudio, to smooth out the movements. As Cassoni reflected, "Robots continue to capture the imagination of artists, the media, and the general public." YuMi has certainly done that. I guess an orchestra of robots lead by YuMi is next. - Dr. Tom
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