Acoustic Levitation Made Simple

Levitation of expanded polystyrene particles by ultrasonic sound waves. CREDIT: M. Andrade/University of São Paulo

A team of researchers at the University of São Paulo in Brazil has developed a new levitation device that can hover a tiny object with more control than any instrument that has come before.

Featured on this week’s cover of the journal Applied Physics Letters, from AIP Publishing, the device can levitate polystyrene particles by reflecting sound waves from a source above off a concave reflector below. Changing the orientation of the reflector allow the hovering particle to be moved around.

Other researchers have built similar devices in the past, but they always required a precise setup where the sound source and reflector were at fixed “resonant” distances. This made controlling the levitating objects difficult. The new device shows that it is possible to build a “non-resonant” levitation device — one that does not require a fixed separation distance between the source and the reflector.

This breakthrough may be an important step toward building larger devices that could be used to handle hazardous materials, chemically-sensitive materials like pharmaceuticals — or to provide technology for a new generation of high-tech, gee-whiz children’s toys.

“Modern factories have hundreds of robots to move parts from one place to another,” said Marco Aurélio Brizzotti Andrade, who led the research. “Why not try to do the same without touching the parts to be transported?”

The device Andrade and his colleagues devised was only able to levitate light particles (they tested it polystyrene blobs about 3 mm across). “The next step is to improve the device to levitate heavier materials,” he said.

The Latest on: Acoustic Levitation

[google_news title=”” keyword=”Acoustic Levitation” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]

via Google News

The Latest on: Acoustic Levitation

Artículos sobre Magnetic levitation
on March 28, 2023 at 5:16 am
Superconductors make highly efficient electronics, but the ultralow temperatures and ultrahigh pressures make them costly and difficult to use. Room-temperature superconductors promise to change that.
2023-2029 Global Magnetic Levitation Skateboards Market Growth Analysis Report
on March 27, 2023 at 7:40 am
Mar 27, 2023 (The Expresswire) -- The Magnetic Levitation Skateboards Market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the global market, covering both qualitative and quantitative aspects ...
Best acoustic guitar strings 2023: get the most from your acoustic
on March 27, 2023 at 4:18 am
There’s nowhere to hide when you play acoustic guitar, so it’s crucial you have the best acoustic guitar strings for your instrument and playing style. Arguably just as important as your acoustic ...
How to Build an Electromagnetic Levitation Device
on March 26, 2023 at 5:00 pm
You can't just rely on the power of your mind to levitate objects. This project from Drew Paul of Drew Paul Designs is a DIY electromagnetic levitation device that can lift a small metal object into ...
Acoustic Levitation With A Twist
on March 25, 2023 at 5:00 pm
It looks like a lot of fun. Acoustic levitation is nothing new here – we’ve covered 3D acoustic airbending, as well as an acoustic flip-dot display. Being able to control the power of sound ...
Using Acoustic Levitation For Applications Going Way Beyond Novelty
on March 12, 2023 at 5:00 pm
We’ve all seen acoustic levitation, it’s one of the scientific novelties of our age and a regular on the circuit of really impressive physical demonstrations of science to the public.
Best acoustic guitar pickups 2023: options for every type of acoustic guitarist, from strummers to percussive players
on March 7, 2023 at 6:43 am
Fitting a pickup to your acoustic guitar allows you to amplify your playing without perching in front of a microphone. Broadly speaking, there are three options when it comes to the best acoustic ...
Acoustic Comfort: The Latest Architecture and News
on January 31, 2023 at 11:17 am
The bad news is that most conventional building materials used today in modern architecture –concrete, glass, masonry– have extremely hard surfaces and limited acoustic properties ...
Could We Levitate Humans With the World’s Most Powerful Acoustic Tractor Beam?
on November 15, 2022 at 4:36 pm
Acoustic tractor beams use sound, or more specifically soundwaves, to hold particles in mid-air. While magnetic levitation also exists, acoustic levitation tends to work better for handling ...
Structural Dynamics & Acoustic Systems Laboratory
on November 14, 2022 at 9:56 am
The Structural Dynamics and Acoustic Systems Laboratory (SDASL), formerly the Modal Analysis and Controls Laboratory, focuses on research related to analytical and experimental problems in the areas ...