LION - Granular & Disordered Media

High Speed Imaging

We have a high-speed video camera (a B/W Phantom 4.2 from Vision Research) to study rapid dynamical processes, such as foam rupture, high speed grain flows and granular tapping dynamics. We welcome suggestions for and are happy to assist in other scientific applications of this instrument. For example: we recently collaborated with the Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research, Division of Drug Delivery Technology to study the working of their high-speed micro-needle injection system (see article 43 in publications). We also helped to study high speed spore movements in ferns; see publication 46.

We have also used this camera for promotional activities: we recorded some entertaining movies at the World Year of Physics fare in the science museum New Metropolis in 2005, and we supported our local physics promotion team RINO (run by physics students) by producing some interesting movies of exploding polyethylene flasks, Wimshurst generator discharges, and more basic biophysics experiments. Some of this material has even found its way to a Dutch 'popular science' television programme called HoeZo?

For longer, continuous, semi-high speed (up to 200 frames per second) imaging applications the Phantom is not very suitable. For these applications we have an Image Archiver system from DVC Machine Vision . Also this system is mobile, and this resource can be also shared for scientific purposes.