Science Topics

Unveiling Stardust on Your Rooftop: a Magnetic Microparticle Sorter and Spotter

/ Danilo Roccatano / Leave a comment

With the help of my lovely assistant, we have just published on Instructables another STEM project. This time, it was inspired by the reading of the classic Comets by Carl Sagan and the upcoming period of significant meteor shower events of the year:

  1. Perseids: The Perseids is one of the most popular and reliable meteor showers, occurring annually in mid-August. It is associated with the comet Swift-Tuttle and gets its name from the constellation Perseus, from where the meteors appear to radiate. The Perseids are known for their fast and bright meteors, often leaving long-lasting trails in the sky. They are visible from both hemispheres, but the best viewing opportunities are typically in the northern hemisphere. During its peak, the Perseids can produce up to 60 to 100 meteors per hour.
  2. Geminids: The Geminids meteor shower takes place every December and is considered one of the most reliable and prolific meteor showers of the year. The Geminids are associated with the asteroid 3200 Phaethon and appear to radiate from the constellation Gemini, hence their name. Unlike many other meteor showers, the Geminids can be observed from both the northern and southern hemispheres. They are known for producing bright, colorful meteors and can reach a peak rate of 120 to 160 meteors per hour, making them a spectacular astronomical event.
  3. Quadrantids: The Quadrantids meteor shower occurs annually in early January and is known for its brief but intense display of meteors. The radiant point of the Quadrantids lies in the defunct constellation Quadrans Muralis, which is no longer recognized as a constellation. However, the meteors can be seen anywhere in the sky. The Quadrantids are associated with the asteroid 2003 EH1, which is believed to be an extinct comet. The peak of the Quadrantids is relatively short, usually lasting only a few hours, but it can produce a high meteor rate of around 60 to 200 meteors per hour.

Who won’t be thrilled by capturing a piece of outer space right in your hands? However, you might think, “But I don’t have the necessary equipment!” Fear not, as luck would have it, you’ve stumbled upon this instructable that will guide you in creating your own Micrometeorite Separator and Spotter (MSS).

Sure, it’s true that if a magnificent carbonaceous chondrite were to gracefully land right in front of your doorstep, you wouldn’t need any equipment. However, chances are high that tiny fragments of meteorites, resembling specks of falling stars, are scattered on your rooftop, waiting to be discovered. Countless websites and YouTube videos share fascinating tales of those who have embarked on this labor of love, showcasing the patience and dedication required to uncover these elusive cosmic treasures. The meteorites you’re after are microscopic, so your search will focus on distinguishing them from the terrestrial dust and debris that pervade our surroundings.

Fortunately, a small and mighty Neodymium magnet proves invaluable in this pursuit, especially for isolating metallic meteorites. Yet, be prepared for a challenging quest, as finding these little celestial gems is no easy task. However, the rewards of discovering even a single meteorite are genuinely remarkable.

We have recently published an Instructable project presenting a simple yet effective device to aid you in your meteorite discovery journey. This device remains compact and portable that can be used with a digital microscope or fitted under a stereomicroscope and the wonders they reveal.

So, get ready to embark on an extraordinary adventure and immerse yourself in the captivating world of meteorite hunting. With the Micrometeorite Separator and Spotter (MSS) at your disposal, you’ll be equipped to explore the heavens and unveil the hidden secrets within the depths of our vast universe.

Happy hunting, and do not forget to like this post and the Instructable !

Introducing the Mini LED Table: Compact, Affordable, and Enhanced With Computer Vision

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How many times have you found yourself looking at your cake decorations, wondering how many pearls are left in the box? Have you ever tried to count how many mustard, basil or pepper plants you can grow with the seeds you have in stock? And what about the urge to know the exact number of millimeter stainless steel balls you recently purchased at your favorite DIY store?
For this purpose, some scrap cardboard, a strip of LEDs, and a Raspberry Pi Zero with its tiny chamber might help satisfy your mathematical desire to enumerate these tiny objects.
In a recent article on Instructables, we detailed the eye-opening experience with all the construction details of a compact, battery-powered, easy-to-use, and affordable mini LED table (MTL). In addition to the hardware, an open source software based on OpenCv is also strengthened for the acquisition and simple processing of the images of the objects on the MTL for possible applications.

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Il Mini Tavolo LED: Illumina l’Universo dei Dettagli Nascosti!

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Quante volte ti sei trovato a guardare le tue decorazioni per i dolci, chiedendoti quante perle rimangono nella scatola? Hai mai provato a contare quante piante di senape, basilico o pepe puoi coltivare con i semi che hai in magazzino? E cosa dire dell’urgenza di conoscere il numero esatto delle sfere in acciaio inossidabile da un millimetro che hai recentemente acquistato nel tuo negozio di fai-da-te preferito?
Per questo scopo, un po’ di cartone di recupero, una striscia di LED e un Raspberry Pi Zero con la sua piccola camera potrebbero aiutare a soddisfare il tuo desiderio matematico di enumerare questi oggetti minuscoli.
In un recente articolo su Instructables, abbiamo descritto l’ illuminante esperienza con tutti i dettagli costruttivi di un mini tavolo LED (MTL) compatto, alimentato a batteria, facile da usare e conveniente. Oltre all’hardware viene fortito anche un software opensource basato su OpenCv per l’acquisizione e la semplice elaborazione delle immagini degli oggetti sul MTL per possibili applicazioni.

Caratteristiche principali del progetto:

  • Un tavolo a LED compatto, portatile ed economico realizzato con un foglio di cartone di imballaggio e una striscia di LED bianchi.
  • Può essere alimentato alimentato da una batteria elettrica e ha un dimmer per regolare l’intensità della luce.
  • È dotato di una camera Raspberry Pi per acquisire le immagini (con la distanza focale modificata per mettere a fuoco oggetti vicini).
  • Il software in Python fornito come OpenSource consente di controllare la camera e di elaborare le immagini per contare gli oggetti sul tavolo.

L’articolo originale (in inglese) del MTL si trova sul mio sito Instructables.

L’articolo contiene le istruzioni dettagliate e i file STL per la stampa 3D dei componenti necessari. Il progetto è stato realizzato in collaborazione con i miei due cari collaboratori, in particolare Leonardo. È un progetto semplice e accessibile che può essere utilizzato anche a scopo educativo per imparare concetti di costruzione, elettronica, ottica e programmazione.

Retro programming Nostalgia IV: Acid/Base Equilibrium and Titration (Part I)

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The motivation for this article stems from my interest in retro-computing connected, on the one hand, to the re-evaluation of my youthful explorations of scientific computing in the BASIC language and, on the other, to the popularity they are having in the amateur sector in recent years and of teaching, single-board microcomputers (single-board computers, such as, for example, the Raspberry Pi). These small computers have considerably more power at a much lower cost than the microcomputers of the 80s. This made it possible to emulate the operating systems of the legendary Commodore home computer models and the MSX extension on these computers.

Therefore, a renewed interest in the BASIC programming language is also occurring. This interest in retro-computing reflects the nostalgia for the great emotions that the development of consumer information technology brought to my generation in the 1970s and 1980s. I remember being so struck by the creativity in using and programming these microcomputers that it redirected my scientific interests and academic career. I have written in other articles about my first programming adventures with Commodore home computers and MSX systems in the late 80s and early 90s and my rediscoveries in computer archaeology. Among the exhibits, I found a small program I used to study acid/base titrations developed in MSX BASIC. Therefore, I took the opportunity to write notes on acid-base balance and titration and thus provide a restored and improved version of my program to students passionate about programming and grappling with this important concept of analytical chemistry.

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Easter 2023: Superquadric and Squared-Eggs

/ Danilo Roccatano / 1 Comment

First there was the Great Cosmic Egg.

Huai-nan Tzu, China 100 BCE 

Another Easter is arriving, and here I am for a new article on old friends: the Eggs. In my blog for Easter 2021, I mentioned squared eggs paraphrasing a sentence attributed to the extraordinary jeweler Peter Carl Fabergé:” This year, your Highness, we will be featuring square eggs.” A hen is unlikely to make a cubic-shaped egg, but we can still transform a cooked egg to get the cuboid shape. If you look for squared eggs on the internet, you will find a tool called the egg cuber that does the magic. Unfortunately, I could not yet try one, but it seems to be doing an excellent job from the reviews. The shape of the egg is not a perfect cube but a cuboid, namely a cube with rounded corners. In my previous article, I anticipated that this shape could be obtained using the superquadric function. Curiouser and curiouser! In this article, I will give a bit of mathematical background and even a source code to play with such a function as my Easter Bunny gift.

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Numeric Solutions of the Schrödinger equation

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For Schrödinger, the atom was an oscillating system — like the string of a musical instrument — for which there exist a number of modes of oscillation (fundamentals and overtones) which are interpreted as the atom’s energy states.

Armin Hermann. Werner Heisenberg 1901-1976.

This set of slides is from one of my courses in Computational Chemistry. It covers the one-dimensional solution of the Schrödinger equation using Numerov’s method. The material for this article was mainly taken from the excellent Levin textbook in the reference.
If you are interested in more details, please like it and subscribe to my website. This way, I will be motivated to add more of these contents.

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A Practical Introduction to the C Language for Computational Chemistry. Part 4

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Controlling complexity is the essence of computer programming.

Brian W. Kernighan. in Software Tools (with PJ Plauger), 1976.

THE FUNCTIONS

A C program is a collection of functions. A C function is equivalent to the subroutine in FORTRAN or BASIC and procedures in PASCAL, PERL, or PYTHON programming languages. A portion of the program cannot be executed independently but only as part of another program. The function contains a specific algorithm or a stand-alone procedure. You have already used several library functions in your previous programs. Output commands for printing or reading files (such as printf(), openf()), mathematical functions (sqrt(), cos() are a library or intrinsic functions as well. Other library functions, we can classify as follows

  • Input/output functions. Input/output on the computer devices (e.g. output to the terminal, printer, hard disk, input from keyboard). It is usually used with #include <stdio.h>;
  • String manipulation functions. This library contains common operations on strings (e.g., concatenation, length, search, and extraction of substrings). It is usually used with #include <string.h>;
  • Mathematical functions. Mathematical calculations (e.g. trigonometrics functions, exponentiation, square root extraction). It is usually used with #include <math.h>;
  • Graphical functions. Function for graphics operations (open a graphical window and canvas) and drawing graphical primitives (e.g. points, line, curves).
  • Operative system control functions. Operation requiriing allocation of the computer resources or devices (e.g. date and time, allocation of memory). It is usually used with, for example, #include <time.h>;
  • Data conversion functions. Operation for data conversion (e.g. change characters type, ascii to integer). It is usually used with #include <ctype.h>;

To use these function, you need to use the precompiler instruction #include at the beginning of the program. The compiler use by deafult the standard library #include <stdlib.h>;

You can write your functions, and it is called user-defined functions. The use of function allows the program to structure and makes its organization and reading easier. C language is structured around the use of functions. The main() function is a function that contains calls to other functions, both intrinsic and user-defined functions.

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NATALE 2022: Il Trigesimo Anniversario della mia Tesi di Laurea

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Mais à l’instant même où la gorgée mêlée des miettes du gâteau toucha mon palais, je tressaillis, attentif à ce qui se passait d’extraordinaire en moi. Un plaisir délicieux m’avait envahi, isolé, sans la notion de sa cause.

PROUST Marcel, Du côté de chez Swann.

Ci sono ricordi del passato che rievocano nostalgicamente piacevoli momenti nella nostra vita. Questi preziosi tesori sono, a volte, sepolti nella nostra mente o, come nel mio caso, in quella di dimenticati cristalli di ferrite. Come per dolcetti di Proust, il ritrovamento di queste vestigie ci fa rivivere le emozioni di un passato lontano. I ricordi di cui parlo sono quelle della mia tesi di Laurea in Chimica che dopo essere stata scritta e discussa fu poi dimenticata nella memoria artificiale di obsoleti supporti magnetici degli albori della rivoluzione digitale.

Discussi la mia tesi di laurea il 23 dicembre dell’anno 1992, era l’ultima sessione di laurea di quell’anno. A quell’epoca, non esisteva ancora la laurea triennale che fu introdotta in conformità con il processo di Bologna dall’anno scolastico 2001/2002. Il corso di laurea in chimica era quinquennale e si entrava in tesi nell’ultimo anno. La tesi sperimentale comportava un lavoro originale che doveva essere discusso di fronte a una commissione di laurea composta dai professori del dipartimento, i relatori e i controrelatori (coloro che dovevano leggere la tesi e valutare il lavoro di ricerca e la sua presentazione). Pertanto, la tesi di Laurea (come del resto l’equivalente tesi magistrale) era un’esperienza molto importante nel condizionare la scelta dello studente nell’avviarsi o meno in una carriera accademica. Nel mio caso, la tesi segnò la scelta di intraprendere la carriera dello scienziato e educatore.  Scelta che, come gli academici goliardici delle prime università europee, mi ha portato a peregrinare lontano dalla mia alma mater nelle lontane Università del nord Europa. Di fatti, questa prefazione è stata abbozzata a Brema in Germania e completata a Lincoln nel Regno Unito, a pochi chilometri dalla città che diede i natali a Isacco Newton.

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Tre Nuovi Progetti per l’Automatizzazione della Microscopia Ottica Amatoriale e Didattica

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Ho recentemente pubblicato nel mio sito su AUTODESK INSTRUCTABLES tre progetti per la microscopia ottica amatoriale e didattica. Sono nati come progetti didattici (STEM) ma possano essere anche utili per applicazioni amatoriali scientifiche. Mio figlio Leonardo (ma anche il resto della famiglia), mi ha aiutato nella creazione della documentazione per questi progetti. In questo articolo riassumo brevemente in italiano la natura edei tre progetti. Le istruzioni dettagliate in inglese per la realizzazione dei progetti possono essere lette sul sito Instructables seguendo i links.

Il Roto-Microscopio

Questo progetto mira a sviluppare un dispositivo che integrato con un microscopio USB economico consenta di scattare foto 3D di piccoli campioni. Il progetto nasce come un’attività educativa di tipo STEM per creare Arduino, la ricostruzione di immagini 3D e la stampa 3D un’attrezzatura utile per alcune entusiasmanti attività scientifiche. Come il mio progetto precedente, è anche l’occasione per condividere attività coinvolgenti ed educative con la mia famiglia e in particolare con mio figli Leonardo che mi ha aiutato a creare questa documentazione e a valutare il dispositivo nel ruolo di un entusiast studente. In questa occasione, anche la mia adorabile moglie ci ha aiutato a realizzare il video dell’assemblaggio dell’attrezzatura.
Il roto-microscopio consente di controllare la posizione di un semplice microscopio USB attorno al campione. Questo ci permette di scattare foto accurate da diverse angolazioni e non solo dall’alto lungo la verticale come nei tradizionali microscopi ma anche da direzioni diverse. Questa non è un’idea nuova, poiché esistono microscopi professionali che operano allo stesso modo. Tuttavia, la realizzazione di dispositivo richiede una spesa modesta alla portata di uno studente garantisce molto divertimento nel costruirlo e produce risultati di buona qualità.

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ROMIO: a Remotely-Operated MIcrOscope

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By love, that first did prompt me to enquire;
He lent me counsel, and I lent him eyes. 

William Shakespeare. Romeo and Juliet. Act II.

Another STEM project is avaialbel here on my AUTODESK Instructable site. We could not help but continue to explore our favourite hobby: microscopy. The interest received in our previous microscopy-related projects has encouraged us to propose other ideas and designs based on further elaborations of both the ROTAMI and the roto-microscope projects. For the latter, Arduino was the microcontroller of choice. In this new device, we decided to take a step further to venture into the use of the fabulous Raspberry PI computer. The results paid back all the e orts; the new ROMIO (I hope Shakespeare’s lover will forgive us for using the illustrious name assonance!) is an XY mobile platform for USB digital microscopes controlled remotely by a RaspPI zero 2 W. In addition to the translation movements, it is possible to adjust the focus of the digital microscope with an additional servo motor. We have developed a simple Python program (called RasPyliet) to control the microscope and automatically collect a series of images for stitching reconstruction.

Moreover, using an additional RaspCamera, you can monitor the device’s correct functioning. The project requires a 3D printer, an inexpensive USB microscope and a Raspberry PI zero W (or higher models) version 2. The project could be used as a STEM project or and affordable replacement for more expensive school equipment for biology projects.

The story of ROMIO and RasPyiet did not end up in a tragedy, but as with every prototype, it still has some known problems and limitations, and there is space for improvement. So we hope you like it, and constructive comments and suggestions are always welcome!