The Machine Orchestra combines laptop orchestras with musical robotics. Founded by CalArts professor Ajay Kapur in 2008, the group continues to serve as an artistic vehicle for research in networked performance and human-machine interaction.

During my undergraduate and graduate tenure at CalArts, I elected to work on software tools development for The Machine Orchestra. Each of the musical robots is controlled through a single Atmel AVR microcontroller. Connected via USB to a central server, these controllers are flashed with a USB-HID firmware, HIDUINO, which I created as part of a related research project for new musical interfaces.

The ensemble has given a number of notable performances including the January 2010 premiere at the REDCAT theater in LA, and the 2010 01SJ Biennial music/arts/technology festival in held in San Jose.

The Machine Orchestra has also been featured by a number of major news outlets including Wired, NBC Los Angeles, NPR, CNET, Huffington Post, and Newsweek.