Mexico City, Jan 1 (IANS/EFE): A Mexican engineer has designed and built a robot said to be the world's "most advanced robot pianist" with 10 degrees of movement, his engineering school said.

Miguel Adad Martinez Genis, a graduate from the National Polytechnic Institute (IPN), and who works with the IPN's Interdisciplinary Engineering and Advanced Technology Professional Unit, is the creator of Rohmus.

Rohmus, which took two years to develop, is the "world's most advanced robot pianist", Martinez Genis said.

Piano-playing robots have been developed in the US, Italy, China and Mexico's Puebla state, but they can only raise and lower their fingers, while Rohmus can also open and close his hands, the engineer said.

This additional ability allows Rohmus to play notes in more complicated pieces, the IPN said in a statement.

"The project started with research on the anatomy and physiology of the hand (and) arm, the analysis of their movements and functions. Later, I sought out piano teachers and pianists from the Fine Arts Training School, who provided me with information about movements, the speed and strength with which you have to hit the keys," Martinez Genis said.

One of the upgrades planned for Rohmus is to give it facial recognition capabilities so it can see and recognise the voice of the person standing in front of it and discuss its repertoire, the engineer said.