AnTUEnna

content by ROMBOUT Frieling lab in collaboration with

Eindhoven University of Technology & Har Hollands

Neural Networks, Moving Mathematics, Playful Particles - the moving imagery behind science is absolutely fascinating. Yet outside academia one hardly gets to see it.

 

Together with scientists and students at Eindhoven University of Technology, we work on revealing some of the invisible beauty in the world around us.

 

On the occasion of the GLOW light festival, the chimney at the Science Park of Eindhoven University (TUE) is permanently transformed into a 70 meter tall AnTUenna transmitting Motions of Science.

 

The concept of AnTUEnna and the idea of Motions of Science was born while developing the lighting plan for Eindhoven University of Technology in 2013.

Neural Networks

The fundamental cells of the nervous system are called neurons. The cells take care of sending and receiving nerve impulses by communication through electrical and chemical signals. These signals are what you see on the chimney when neurons and their connections, called axons, light up. Student: Fenna Wit

Voronoi

These patterns are created by predetermined dots called generators, each of which has a certain color. Every other point on the chimney obtains the color of the closest generator. This principle can also be seen in nature, for example in cell structures or leaves, and are even used to investigate how viruses spread in epidemiology. Student: Monique Huveneers

Phase Transition

Here, the phase transition of a simplified compound is visualized. When the temperature is low, the particles are in a solid crystal, wherein little motion is permitted. By increasing the temperature, the particles start to move and interact with each other more intensely. After some time, the liquid phase is reached, where particles are able to move throughout the confined space. When the temperature is increased even more, the sample will expand and form the gas phase. Student: Jerome Simons

Moire

A moire pattern is a special kind of interference pattern, which is created by shifting different patterns over each other. This pattern can also be seen in television screens and in printing. Student: Monique Huveneers

 

 

Turbulence

Fluid dynamics is the science of understanding how fluids, or gasses, make their way through space. In this model we show how air would flow through the chimney if it was forced through it - creating disturbance, which is called turbulence. These models are also used in field as building design, aerospace engineering and sports. Student: Diane Schoenmaker.

Perlin Noise

Perlin Noise, a gradient noise algorithm developed by Ken Perlin in 1983 in his frustration with the ‘machine-like’ look of computer graphics at the time, can often be found in CGI (Computer-generated imagery), where Perlin Noise helps making natural looking object surfaces, fire, smoke, or clouds. On the AnTUEnna, Perlin noise is used in this video to create different colorful patterns. Student: Jerome Simons

 

 

Blood Vessel

The structure of a capillary vessel is visualized by means of a parallel cross section with a cylinder, showing the individual layers of cells and connecting tissue. Within the department of Biomedical Engineering (prof.dr. Carlijn Bouten and dr.dr. Patricia Dankers) synthetic alternatives for the extracellular matrix (the grey fibers) are being investigated and used in scaffolds which allow the in situ growth of new blood vessels in the body. The Animation is made in the ICMS Animationstudio.

 

 

 

Plasma

Dancing gas discharge in an experimental microwave setup. This setup resembles industrial machines used for solar cell production. Generally, they employ very low gas pressures, but at elevated pressures we can observe these dancing discharges. In reality the discharges have sizes of a few tens of centimeters. The recordings are played about 1000x slower than reality. Input by Prof Sander Nijdam.

Waves

As if the AnTUEnna were a real antenna, we show how invisible radio waves, which are so abundantly around us in this day and age, propagate through the sky.