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Visualizing Sound in Texas

June 5, 2012

Engineering education is thriving and the students involved in it are not just dour-faced eggheads with little prospects for a career involving human interaction.

David Greenfield, editor in chief

In fact, they may be having a little too much fun with industrial strength technologies.

At Waterloo Labs, an engineering outpost of sorts in Austin, Texas supported by National Instruments (NI, www.ni.com), students are teamed up with NI engineers to “show the world great and fun DIY projects that you can accomplish on a budget.”

One project they developed is known as “Karaoke on Fire,” which shows a visualization of the fundamental concept of sound waves in “a dangerously fun way.” The team used a Ruben’s Tube—which is a metal pipe with holes drilled along the top, a propane valve at one end and a speaker box at the other—to create awesome soundwave pyrotechnics.

Watch the Video of Karoke on Fire by clicking here.

>> Click here for coverage of the 2012 Automation Conference.

About the Author

David Greenfield, editor in chief | Editor in Chief

David Greenfield joined Automation World in June 2011. Bringing a wealth of industry knowledge and media experience to his position, David’s contributions can be found in AW’s print and online editions and custom projects. Earlier in his career, David was Editorial Director of Design News at UBM Electronics, and prior to joining UBM, he was Editorial Director of Control Engineering at Reed Business Information, where he also worked on Manufacturing Business Technology as Publisher.