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Quantum Control - undergraduate projects

ABSOLUTE ELECTRONIC DETERMINATION OF THE SPEED OF LIGHT

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
According to Maxwell's well-tested theories, the resonant frequency of a simple L-C circuit depends only upon the component dimensions and the speed of light. By constructing from scratch a range of air-spaced capacitors and inductors, measuring the resonant frequencies of their combinations, and carefully accounting for measurement and end effects, this project allows the speed of light to be determined absolutely in a benchtop experiment.
This project is suitable for third year undergraduates.

CHARACTERIZING AND OPTIMIZING THE TIN CAN TELEPHONE

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
The classic childhood telephone, comprising two tin cans and a length of string, provides an excellent demonstration of wave transmission and transduction, and as such is open to straightforward but illuminating characterization and subsequent optimization. The project will involve the production and systematic characterization of such a telephone, its analysis in terms of wave propagation and impedance matching, and the subsequent design and manufacture of an optimized device. If time permits, the same analysis may be extended to the mechanical gramophone.
This project is suitable for fourth year undergraduates.

THE GRUNT FOR THE RED OCTOBER

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
The silent underwater propulsion system given by Tom Clancy to the Russian submarine of his novel is far from fiction: magneto-hydrodynamic propulsion has been an area of active research in recent years, but at a model scale. Based upon the Lorentz force upon moving charges in a magnetic field, it generates thrust by passing an electrical current through sea water.
This project will seek to demonstrate and evaluate magneto-hydrodynamic propulsion for small models. Ducted and unducted geometries will be explored, and the scope for powering using sea-water batteries investigated.
This project is suitable for third year undergraduates.

WHERE TO FIND THE ENGLISH THERMAL

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
Rising columns of warm air provide the lift for cross-country glider pilots, and are well known to be associated with particular ground features. Rocky outcrops, factories and car parks are all classic sources; but others may be less obvious. This project will develop procedures for the automated analysis of satellite photographs to identify and chart the predominant sources of thermals under various wind conditions, resulting in a map of practical use to glider pilots.
This project is suitable for fourth year undergraduates.

COOKING EGGS IN A SLING

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
"The shepherds of Egypt," according to Mrs Beeton's Book of Household Management, "had a singular manner of cooking eggs without the aid of fire. They placed them in a sling, which they turned so rapidly that the friction of the air heated them to the exact point required for use." This project will examine, both experimentally and theoretically, the potential effectiveness of such a method.
This project is suitable for third year undergraduates.

THE FEYNMAN REVERSE GARDEN SPRINKLER

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
The ever-playful Richard Feynman derived great amusement by asking his colleagues which way a garden sprinkler would turn if run backwards under water, so that water was drawn into the tube from which the jet normally emerges. Many of those questioned felt that the sprinkler would rotate in the opposite direction, because the pressure gradient at the open end would be reversed; others argued that the rotation would be unchanged, because the forces acting on the inside of the curved pipe would be independent of the direction of flow. Feynman, of course, always responded with the opposite argument to that expressed, thus ensuring that all were left in a quandry.
Feynman eventually undertook experimental investigations to resolve the problem, but teasingly never revealed his findings. This project offers the opportunity to repeat Feynman's experiments, to find which way the reverse sprinkler rotates and to establish something of the various mechanisms at play. Students should also expect to undertake some theoretical analysis of the situation.
This project is suitable for third year undergraduates.

RECREATING THE LOGIE BAIRD TELEVISION

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
John Logie Baird's first television was a mechanical device, in which the image was scanned and subsequently recreated by a system of suitably perforated spinning discs. Modern photodetectors and Fresnel lenses render the original device's shortcoming of low optical throughput rather less serious. This project involves recreating Logie Baird's first television system, taking the general scheme from contemporary material but leaving the detailed design and analysis to the students' own creative innovation.
This project is suitable for third year undergraduates.

DEVELOPING A SONIC SCREWDRIVER

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
The acoustic gradient force - the equivalent of the optical dipole force used for optical tweezers but with sound waves in place of light - has already been used to levitate objects as large as steel balls. This project will explore the use of ultrasound not only to trap but also to manipulate small particles and objects, using tailored acoustic fields that are designed using the same techniques - cavity mode analysis and holography - that are used in the optical analogue. In principle, it should be possible to use ultrasound both to rotate trapped species and to form them into acoustically-bonded structures.

A TIGHTROPE-WALKING ROBOT

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
Walking the high-wire is testing enough for humans, so building and programming a robot for the task is a particular challenge. This project, centred around a simple mechanical structure, involves analysing the subtle physical problem, designing a servo control strategy, programming the design into a Digital Signal Processing chip, and testing the system experimentally.
This project will involve some programming. Prior experience would be useful, but is not necessary.

THE INDIAN ROPE TRICK

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
It is a remarkable result of classical dynamics that a rod can be balanced on one end simply by moving the point of contact up and down at an appropriate frequency. This theory of parametric oscillation of the inverted pendulum predicts that a compound pendulum, comprising a chain of connected rods, can also be balanced, and the principle can ultimately be extended even to a flexible wire - although the precision needed in the driving motion increases with the mechanical complexity. This project will involve both experimental investigation and some theoretical analysis.

ADIABATIC PENDULA

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
The pendulum is often a good classical model for the quantum oscillator. This project will investigate the process of adiabatic rapid passage, which is used in quantum manipulation schemes to invert an atomic population. Here, two pendula with different natural frequencies will be coupled by an electromagnet. Varying the magnet current in the right way should transfer the motion of one pendulum to the other; repeating the procedure transfers the motion back again.

STRESS ANALYSIS OF A STRAPLESS EVENING GOWN

Dr Tim Freegarde   email: tim.freegarde@soton.ac.uk   Room: 5071
Scientific analysis and lateral thinking can bring remarkable innovations in even the most day-to-day applications, allowing revolutionary designs ranging from the use of Goretex and Lycra in technical clothing, to Howard Hughes' special cantilever constructions - recorded memorably for posterity in Hitchcock's Vertigo - for Jane Russell. This project will explore the structural requirements of fashion clothing, the constraints upon how it is tailored, and the new possibilities offered by modern fabrics and materials from Lycra and Kevlar to laid scrim laminates.
This project will involve some computational analysis: prior experience would be useful, but is not necessary. The student should expect to explore related applications of structural textiles through contact with sail lofts and hot air balloon manufacturers etc.