TinyLev: A multi-emitter single-axis acoustic levitator

Abstract

Acoustic levitation has the potential to enable novel studies due to its ability to hold a wide variety of substances against gravity under container-less conditions. It has found application in spectroscopy, chemistry, and the study of organisms in microgravity. Current levitators are constructed using Langevin horns that need to be manufactured to high tolerance with carefully matched resonant frequencies. This resonance condition is hard to maintain as their temperature changes due to transduction heating. In addition, Langevin horns are required to operate at high voltages (>100 V) which may cause problems in challenging experimental environments. Here, we design, build, and evaluate a single-axis levitator based on multiple, low-voltage (ca. 20 V), well-matched, and commercially available ultrasonic transducers. The levitator operates at 40 kHz in air and can trap objects above 2.2 g/cm density and 4 mm in diameter whilst consuming 10 W of input power. Levitation of water, fused-silica spheres, small insects, and electronic components is demonstrated. The device is constructed from low-cost off-the-shelf components and is easily assembled using 3D printed sections. Complete instructions and a part list are provided on how to assemble the levitator.

Automatic contactless injection, transportation, merging, and ejection of droplets with a multifocal point acoustic levitator

“…22 In the recent years, different acoustic approaches have been proposed to manipulate liquid droplets. 14,[23][24][25][26][27][28] Koyama and Nakamura 23 developed a levitation system formed by a plane reflector and a metal plate attached to transducers at its ends. By changing the relative phase between the a) Author to whom correspondence should be addressed: marcobrizzotti@ gmail.com transducers, they could transport ethanol droplets.…”

Levitation Simulator: Prototyping Ultrasonic Levitation Interfaces in Virtual Reality

“…For example, a game where acoustically transparent structures (e.g. tubes made of metallic mesh) are passed around a particle levitating in a standing wave levitator, similar to BigLev [14], is presented in [15]. Floating Charts [20] is a modular display, where levitating particles are used to encode data points on a dynamic chart in mid-air.…”

Experimentando con Arduino y Scilab: propagación de calor en una barra metálica

“…Para determinar el coeficiente de convección, con una entrada constante en el comando del transistor se caliente el extremo de la barra hasta que las temperaturas en todos los sensores lleguen a régimen. En la figura (8) se muestra el resultado de cuatro ensayos con temperaturas de régimen diferentes en el transistor, ilustrando las medidas tomadas en los tres sensores y las respectivas curvas analíticas resultantes dadas por la ecuación (5). La figura (9) muestra las curvas normalizadas, en la cual se observa la dispersión en cada uno de los tres sensores.…”

“…La placa Arduino Uno [1] es una placa electrónica económica de uso genérico, que posibilita el control y la adquisición de datos, ideal para ser usada en como parte de dispositivos de laboratorio de Física e Ingeniería [2] [3] [4] [5].…”