Phrase-Level Robotic Guqin Performance: Bimanual Motion Planning and Audio-Tactile Interaction Monitoring

Abstract:Recent advances in humanoid robotics and embodied intelligence have enabled robots to perform increasingly complex manipulation tasks. However, musical instrument performance remains a formidable benchmark, demanding not only collision-free trajectory execution but also precise contact timing, asymmetric bimanual coordination, and target acoustic outcomes on physical instruments. The guqin, a seven-string fretless zither, presents unique manipulation challenges due to its millimetric string spacing, transient right-hand plucking, and sustained left-hand harmonic contacts. In this work, we present a physical heterogeneous dual-arm robotic system for phrase-level autonomous guqin performance. We formulate guqin playing as a hybrid discrete--continuous execution problem and develop a hierarchical planning framework that coordinates working finger assignment, configuration continuity, obstacle avoidance, and tight bimanual contact schedules across consecutive musical events. The system integrates vision-guided instrument localization, tactile-based harmonic contact monitoring, and auditory feedback-informed plucking parameter calibration. Real-world experiments on a 25-event phrase demonstrate that the system reliably executes coordinated open-string and seventh-hui harmonic sequences on a physical guqin, achieving 93.6% and 96.8% event correctness across repeated trials.

Robotics (cs.RO)

arXiv:2609.24133 [cs.RO]

(or arXiv:2609.24133v1 [cs.RO] for this version)

https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2609.24133 Focus to learn more arXiv-issued DOI via DataCite (pending registration)

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