Lab

From nldlab
Jump to navigation Jump to search

Below is a collection of experimental techniques that we will be using in the Nonlinear Dynamics lab.

Video techniques

One of the most common measurements in a mechanics experiment is the visual determination of a quantity of measure. For example the position of a bead on a rotating hoop, the spatial period of a patterned state, or the meniscus of a forming drop could all be measured through the use of a camera and image processing software (Matlab). In this section we will discuss some of the basic image measurement and analysis techniques used in this lab.

High speed camera

To study the dynamics of a system time evolution is important. Thus we are often in interested in measuring a quantity, say the position of a bead on a hoop, many times over some time period. To capture high time resolution images we use several high speed cameras in these labs which differ in cost and capability. For most experiments we will use the consumer grade Casio Exilim which is a point and shoot camera that can record high speed video at up to 1000 frames per second. The other camera used is a Point grey firewire camera for real time image capture and analysis.

Matlab image processing

Point tracking

Electronics

Oscilloscope

Accelerometer

Strain gauges

Force measurement

Bridge circuit

General data analysis

Point tracking matlab code

Real time point tracking LabVIEW code