Another facet of my postdoctoral work includes the development of a robot that takes an array of images we can stitch together into a single cohesive high resolution image. The technique is inspired by astrophysical composite images. Our application uses an Instron testing frame to compress a quasi-2D granular sample (cylinders stacked between glass plates). The Instron has its own control software but also allows for signaling using serial communications via an arduino uno so that the imaging portion of the set-up can be synchronized with the testing frame. The imaging apparatus consists of a 2D gantry that moves a camera equipped with a linear actuator. The action of the polarizer attached to the linear actuator allows the camera to take images with and without a polarizer at each position. A python program controls the gantry, camera, actuator, and communicates with the arduino. The video above shows a portion of an image capture sequence.
