AJ Santa Cruz
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Beyond the lab

Automated Air-Driven Musical Instrument

A pneumatic instrument that plays a four-note melody with 100% activation success.

The pneumatic instrument — solenoids gating harmonically tuned PVC pipes

Pressurized air across harmonically tuned PVC pipes, gated by four high-voltage solenoids, triggered by 3D-printed TPU keys.

A tangible demonstration of controls and mechatronics fundamentals — and proof that the same discipline behind precision hardware is fun to point at something playful.

Detail of the solenoid manifold and tuned pipesPlaying the air-driven instrument

Contact

Let’s build something precise.

Open to internships and research collaborations across precision hardware, mechatronics, and applied ML. Email is the fastest way to reach me.