Levitating Bugs with Sound Could Transform Scientific Photography

Summary

‘Photogrammetric imaging system using acoustic levitation. The levitator consists of two half spheres with US transducers and is controlled by an FPGA. For the image acquisition, a macro camera standing on a tripod is used.’ | Credit: ‘Automated Photogrammetric Close-Range Imaging System for Small Invertebrates Using Acoustic Levitation’ by Nathalie Klug, Markus Kramer, Fahri Mazrek, Lorenz Wührl, Hossein Shirali, Rudolf Meier, and Christian Pylatiuk Scientists used precisely controlled soundwaves to suspend insect specimens, capturing detailed photographs from multiple angles without damaging the specimens. Macro photography of small specimens is a routine part of scientific research. However, the typical approach of “posing” subjects using pins can damage sensitive specimens and is not an option at all for the smallest specimens. Researchers from the Institute for Automation and Applied Infomatics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology; the Center for Integrative Biodiversity Discovery, Leibniz Institute for Evolution and Biodiversity Science; and the Institute for Biology, Humboldt University Berlin, utilized sound waves to overcome these limitations. As Hackaday notes, acoustic levitation is not itself novel. This method for suspending lightweight matter in air using high-intensity sound waves has been around since the early 20th century and continues to interest scientists. However, the practical application of acoustic levitation for something like scientific photography is new and fascinating. The German researchers showed how acoustic levitation can work for insect specimens and demonstrated an automated, controllable way to maneuver specimens to capture specific images at pre-defined angles. Further, they can perform automated focus stacking on specimens, as they are kept steady enough, and capture highly detailed photos with an extended depth of field. It is also possible to turn this expansive dataset into highly detailed 3D models of specimens without hands-...