Tractor beams become a reality as UK scientists use sound waves to levitate an object
- 8 years ago
SUSSEX, UNITED KINGDOM — A team of British scientists has successfully created a tractor beam, that used sound to levitate objects without contact.
The technology was co-developed by scientists at the Universities of Sussex and Bristol, and a company called Ultrahaptics, which made the 64 mini loudspeakers that can produce precisely timed sound waves with accuracy to the microsecond level used in the experiments, according to a press release by the University of Sussex.
Scientists experimented using three acoustic fields: the first one is a tweezer-like beam that can grip, move and rotate a small object. The second one behaves like an acoustic vortex which can hold the object in space. The third field works like a cage, trapping the object. Researchers were able to move the object by simply moving the cage.
The technology has been used to levitate tiny polystyrene balls that measure up to 5 mm across. However, the acoustic force could be used to levitate bigger and heavier objects by increasing the sound intensity, CBS News reported.
"We can move bigger and heavier objects than we have done, but the main application is going smaller to manipulate things inside the human body," the Guardian quoted Asier Marzo, PhD student and the lead author as saying. The team is now looking into the possibilities of adapting the technology to medical use.
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The technology was co-developed by scientists at the Universities of Sussex and Bristol, and a company called Ultrahaptics, which made the 64 mini loudspeakers that can produce precisely timed sound waves with accuracy to the microsecond level used in the experiments, according to a press release by the University of Sussex.
Scientists experimented using three acoustic fields: the first one is a tweezer-like beam that can grip, move and rotate a small object. The second one behaves like an acoustic vortex which can hold the object in space. The third field works like a cage, trapping the object. Researchers were able to move the object by simply moving the cage.
The technology has been used to levitate tiny polystyrene balls that measure up to 5 mm across. However, the acoustic force could be used to levitate bigger and heavier objects by increasing the sound intensity, CBS News reported.
"We can move bigger and heavier objects than we have done, but the main application is going smaller to manipulate things inside the human body," the Guardian quoted Asier Marzo, PhD student and the lead author as saying. The team is now looking into the possibilities of adapting the technology to medical use.
-------------------------------------------------------------
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