A team of researchers at University College London has developed a way to keep objects lifted by sound waves in the air when other objects interfere with the swing path. In their work published in the journal Advances in Sciencethe group describes the self-correcting suspension system.
Previous research has shown that it is possible to hover objects by launching sound waves at them. Because sound waves are nothing more than airborne particles moving in a certain way, the suspended object will fall if an object interferes with the sound waves. In this new endeavor, researchers have developed new features to address this problem.
Credit: Advances in Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abn7614
To protect the sound waves from interference, the researchers increased the number of speakers used — they used 256 in their work. They also added software to control each of the speakers. The speakers were placed in a grid and the objects were suspended by specially shaped sound waves. By programming the speakers in specific ways, the team was able to get the system to work together to keep an object above the grid in the air despite the break. If any of the sound waves were blocked, other sound waves were redirected to take their place.
The researchers demonstrated that their system was viable by testing it using a 3D printed white rabbit as an interference object. Objects hovered around the rabbit regardless of its position. In one experiment, researchers suspended beads around a rabbit that formed into a flying butterfly. They also suspended a piece of transparent cloth that they used as a screen to display the rabbit they had printed. And they floated a single drop of water over a glass of water, indicating that their system would work even when the object being inserted was a shaking glass of liquid.
This video shows the creation of a butterfly that clicks around a 3D printed bunny, which can be controlled by gestures. Credit: Advances in Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abn7614
The researchers suggest that their system could be used for demonstration purposes, such as in museums or advertisements. They then plan to expand their system to allow it to handle multiple interference objects at once.
Use of sound waves to model the dynamic rotation of inertial multi-particle grouping objects More info: Ryuji Hirayama et al, High-speed acoustic holography with arbitrary scattering objects, Advances in Science (2022). DOI: 10.1126 / sciadv.abn7614
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Reference: One way to prevent objects from falling due to interference (2022, June 20) was retrieved on June 20, 2022 by
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