Scientists from Universities of Bristol and Sussex, England and the Universidad Publica de Navarra, Spain created a tractor beam called a sonic tractor beam. Sound waves can be used to lift or move objects. Star Trek’s Tractor beams are mysterious radiations capable of lifting, pulling and grasping objects. This concept was first imagined by science fiction authors. Engineers and scientists have continued to be fascinated by it. The researchers published their findings in Nature Communications, citing below. They claim that they created a tractor beam using high-amplitude sound waves that generates an acoustic hoogram. This can pick up small objects and lift them. The levitation of expanded polystyrene is achieved above single-sided arrays. Acoustic transducers operate at 16 Vpp or 40 KHz. A-C: The particles can be translated in 3D using different arrangement and without having to move the array. The traps can hold the spheres in place and resist gravity. Image: Nature Communications. Tractor beam could have many applications. The authors suggest that the technique can be used for numerous purposes. For example, an ultrasonic production line might move fragile objects and then assemble them without any contact. The technology may eventually allow it to transport small surgical instruments or drug capsules through live tissue. Asier Marzo (a PhD student in the Department of Computer Science at University of Bristol) is the lead author. He said that it was an amazing experience to see the object being held by the tractor beam. It’s amazing. All my hard work paid off. Bruce Drinkwater, professor of ultrasonics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Bristol said: “We know sound waves can have physical effects. We have achieved a level of control that we could not achieve before. Amplitude fields (a,d), phase (b.e), and amplitude Isosurfaces (c.f) are all measured in kPa. Image: Nature Communications. The beam appears to defy gravity. Prof. Sriram Subramanian is the co-founder of Ultrahaptics Ltd. He explained that his device allows him to manipulate objects in midair, and thus seem to defy gravity. We control many loudspeakers individually to determine the best solution for creating an acoustic-hologram that can manipulate multiple objects simultaneously without any contact. The scientists created high-pitch sound waves using a variety of 64 tiny loudspeakers. A tractor beam surrounds an object with extremely loud sound, creating a force field which holds it in place. The object can be controlled by the loudspeaker output to hold it still or move around. Star Trek’s tractor beam doesn’t use sound. If there’s no air, sound is impossible (there’s no space air). Three different types of acoustic force field have been shown to work well as tractor beams. An acoustic field that is similar to two fingers or a pair of scissors: Tweezer. 2. Vortex is an acoustic vortex in which the object gets stuck and trapped to the core. 3. The cage: A high-intensity enclosure that holds the object in place and surrounds it from all sides. Prior experiments with acoustics required that the object be surrounded by loudspeakers. This limited its movement and made it less useful for many purposes. Citation: “Holographic Acoustic Elements for Manipulation of Levitated Objects,” By Asier Marzo and Sue Ann Seah. Bruce W. Drinkwater. Deepak Ranjan Sahoo. Benjamin Long. Sriram Subramanian. Nature Communications. 27 Oct 2015. DOI: 10.1038/ncomms9661. Video: An Acoustic Tractor Beam This video shows the projection of acoustic hoograms from a flat surface. Contrary to other holograms they have a significant impact on objects within.
Created tractor beam with sound waves
