Modelling Waves in the Palm of Your Hand
Introducing the Loughborough Wave Lab
Many of the devices we take for granted rely on electromagnetic waves. Whether it be TV signals from satellites, the mobile phone in our pocket and the microwave oven we use to cook our ready meals. For decades, engineers designing such systems have modelled the behaviour of electromagnetic waves using computers. The results of these simulations have been used to improve signal quality, reduce exposure to harmful electromagnetic radiation and otherwise enhance designs.
Commercial software for doing this relies on high performance computers to model and display the graphical output from simulations. These are not widely accessible or generally available to the budding undergraduate engineer struggling to grasp the concepts.
Now PhD student Dan Browne has created an App which takes the visualisations previously only available to specialist researchers and makes them accessible to anyone with an iPhone. Using Dan’s App you can play with EM, experiment with different parameters and watch the resulting behaviours and properties unfold in your hand.
Dan, who is supervised by Simon Pomeroy and James Flint, built an iPhone App as part of his final year MEng project. As he was embarking on a PhD studying transmission line modelling (TLM), he decided to see if he could create a miniature wave laboratory. The result is a little piece of magic you can carry round in your pocket. Using the Loughborough Wave Lab you can select different modes and conditions and watch the EM perform in infinite variety before your eyes. And as you watch, you understand: the idea crystallises and the power is yours!
Why not try for yourself? The app is available on the App Store now – just search for ‘Loughborough wave lab’