Invisible Xylophone at a Glance

New for 2018:  Create a wand that plays music when you wave it -- an Invisible Xylophone!  Then decorate the wand to express your own personality.

  • Create an Invisible Xylophone that beeps a tune as you wave a wand
  • Connect sensors that detect the wand’s motion
  • Add a light that changes color
  • Attach a speaker that beeps notes
  • Arrange graphical computer code letting the wand control the speaker
  • Decorate the wand to express your own personality

You'll attach to the end of a wand an accelerometer and a gyroscope that send signals to a microcontroller, which in turn is wired to a speaker.  Then you'll write code in the Scratch programming language so that the speaker beeps when the wand is swiped down, generating a pitch controlled by the wand's angle.

This program is generally appropriate for grades 6-9, though the hosting libraries and schools may have additional guidelines and registration requirements.