Additional projects / Optics & light
Moving-fluid light display
Experiments in making patterns of light by moving a small fluid segment through a channel.
Open the numbered review →Figure-eight display
Photo 483
The figure-eight-shaped part is another version of the microfluidic display concept. A small segment of fluorescent dye was intended to move through the channel while timed ultraviolet flashes lit selected positions. This explored a different pattern from the earlier serpentine-channel design.
Serpentine display and detector
Photos 388–389
A serpentine channel for an experimental display. The idea was to move a small segment of fluorescent dye quickly through the channel and flash ultraviolet light at selected moments, lighting it at different positions. An LED and photoresistor detected the dye near the exit so a piezoelectric blower could apply pressure to stop it leaving the channel.
Another angle of the serpentine channel and optical detector. I was exploring a display in which the position of a moving dye segment and the timing of ultraviolet flashes would determine where light appeared.
Earlier liquid-metal trial
Photo 479
More devices from the microfluidic experiments. Before trying a moving fluorescent-dye segment for the display concept, I experimented with liquid gallium, or possibly a gallium–indium alloy. The metal spread over and adhered to the channel surfaces too readily, so it did not work well for the intended moving-droplet display.