Machine Vision applied to the Micro World

Presenter and Advisor Information

Mark Siegel, Illinois Wesleyan University

Submission Type

Event

Faculty Advisor

Gabriel Spalding

Expected Graduation Date

2019

Location

Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University

Start Date

4-13-2019 2:00 PM

End Date

4-13-2019 3:00 PM

Disciplines

Education

Abstract

By implementing machine vision algorithms, it is possible to test the Stokes-Einstein relation describing statistical variance in a micron-sized sphere’s position as it undergoes “Brownian motion,” where surrounding molecules randomly collide with our spheres, pushing them around to a measurable degree. By utilizing image processing algorithms available in Mathematica, position tracking can be automated, taking images captured by a camera mounted to the microscope as input, which are then quantitatively analyzed via machine vision algorithms. After completing an analysis of “freely diffusing” matter, these methods will be applied to analyze the behavior of microparticles in an optical trap, which essentially provides a tunable potential well. This model system is ideal for studying the emergence of the thermodynamic limit, where there is significant interest in a relatively new class of “fluctuation theorems,” from which the Second Law of thermodynamics emerges (and, with it, the “arrow of time,” itself).

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Apr 13th, 2:00 PM Apr 13th, 3:00 PM

Machine Vision applied to the Micro World

Center for Natural Sciences, Illinois Wesleyan University

By implementing machine vision algorithms, it is possible to test the Stokes-Einstein relation describing statistical variance in a micron-sized sphere’s position as it undergoes “Brownian motion,” where surrounding molecules randomly collide with our spheres, pushing them around to a measurable degree. By utilizing image processing algorithms available in Mathematica, position tracking can be automated, taking images captured by a camera mounted to the microscope as input, which are then quantitatively analyzed via machine vision algorithms. After completing an analysis of “freely diffusing” matter, these methods will be applied to analyze the behavior of microparticles in an optical trap, which essentially provides a tunable potential well. This model system is ideal for studying the emergence of the thermodynamic limit, where there is significant interest in a relatively new class of “fluctuation theorems,” from which the Second Law of thermodynamics emerges (and, with it, the “arrow of time,” itself).