Noval Arianto, an Undergraduate Informatics student at Universitas Dian Nuswantoro (Udinus) has been interested in playing gamelan since his younger days to preserve Indonesian traditional music. Therefore, he decided to participate in research conducted by professors in creating a gamelan robot equipped with Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Noval was concerned about traditional cultures as they could not keep up as time went on. For that reason, he determined to join the ‘Robot Gamelan Sekar Nuswantoro’ research which was first conducted in November 2022.
During the construction process, Noval, born in Pati, admitted that constructing a gamelan robot was not an easy matter. The biggest challenge was the electrical circuits as Noval had little to no knowledge regarding electrical circuits.
“However, I refuse to give up, with the commitment to keep on, I have finally learned electricity and successfully resolved a few problems including, connecting 2 wires in the same electrical current properly,” he explained.
The gamelan robot’s testing process took 17 months or one and a half years. The team involved 21 students and 5 lecturers in the process. Finally, at the 77th Graduation at Udinus, The Sekar Nuswantoro Gamelan Robot mesmerized many people with its performance.
“I am proud of myself for overcoming all obstacles during the preparation process alongside the team,” admitted Noval.
Every moment he had gone through with the team was precious. Especially, when he successfully built the first version resulting in the ball being hit with every problematic came with it.
Noval hoped that this project would keep evolving and producing new development versions. Additionally, Noval also wished for the project to recruit other Udinus students to join forces and collectively contribute to this innovation.
“Hopefully, this gamelan robot may push other students to keep developing technology with the intention to introduce the Indonesian traditional cultural heritage to people across the globe,” concluded the man with the @juanvalno Instagram account. (Humas Udinus/Ika. Foto: Humas Udinus)
