Quantifying Mechanical Synchronization of Metronomes

Leif Hague and Brianna Hajek, under the supervision of Prof. Taher Saif, in collaboration with Emerson De Souza
University Laboratory High School and the Department of Mechanical Science and Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Introduction
Through the University Laboratory High School ISTEM Summer Research Experience, we worked for three weeks in Prof. Taher Saifs laboratory under postdoctoral scientist Emerson De Souza. Dr. De Souza is currently researching the behavior of cardiac cells. When removed from the heart and distributed in a plastic container, cardiac cells continue to pulse. The cells pulse independently until enough connective tissue (fibroblasts) grows back to join the cardiac cells. At this point, the pulsing synchronizes. Dr. De Souza is interested in determining the cause of this synchronization. Similarly, metronomes set at the same or similar frequencies synchronize when placed on a metal plate resting on two soda cans (see figure 1). This is a purely mechanical phenomenon. We assisted Dr. De Souza in running experiments concerning the synchronization of metronomes and cardiac cells.

Method (cont.)
There are certain conditions under which the program can track the pendulums. We used ten second videos to test various situations in order to find the correct settings for the full experiment. We varied: Frequency of metronomes Resolution of videos Number of pixels the MATLAB program tracked (correlation size) The frequency and resolution affect the number of pixels that the pendulum moves per frame of video. If this number is too high, the program has difficulty tracking it. Increasing the number of pixels tracked allows the program to track points that move at faster rates. The metronomes are slightly inaccurate as well, which will affect the experiment. To account for this, we found the actual frequencies of each metronome by analyzing the pattern of its movement.

Results
For frequencies of 50, 100, and 200 beats per minute (BPM), the program was able to track the pendulums at video resolutions of 256x256, 512x256, and 1024x256 pixels. All of these worked with a correlation size of 5x5 pixels. We found 1024x256 pixels to be the best frame size because the pendulums of up to three metronomes can be seen with little excess space. We calculated the expected frequencies, in Hz, of the metronomes at 104, 152, and 108 BPM. We compared these with the observed frequencies to determine the inaccuracy of each metronome. Metronome A B C Deviation 2.49-3.67% 1.84-3.07% 0.76-1.84%

Remainder of Experiment
Dr. De Souza will use the MATLAB script to track the movement of cardiac cells and produce a graph of the synchronization of their movements. This graph will be compared to the graph of metronome synchronization, and the degree of similarity will be used to determine the reason for cardiac cell synchronization. If the graphs are similar or identical, the synchronization of cardiac cells, like that of metronomes, can be considered a purely mechanical phenomenon. If they are different, then the synchronization of cardiac cells likely occurs through electrochemical means.

Conclusions
During our time in Prof. Saifs lab, we gained experience which would have been difficult to acquire in a different setting. Because of the amount of time required to carry out this experiment, it would be impossible to complete it at school within a reasonable time frame. We were able to learn what it is like to work with others in a research lab and develop an experiment. The metronome experiment was performed largely from scratch, without background research or specific instructions. Though Dr. De Souza was available to help us if we had trouble and guide us in the right direction, we worked for many hours independently, which does not happen often in a school setting. Overall, this was a good experience to give us an idea of what it is like to work in a research lab and prepare us for future scientific research in similar settings.

Aim
Though the synchronization of metronomes is known to be mechanical, it is unclear whether the process of synchronization of cardiac cells is mechanical or electrochemical. The purpose of this experiment is to determine this by comparing the synchronization of metronomes and cardiac cells. The synchronization of metronomes is quantified by tracking the movement of the pendulums using a program in MATLAB. Our job was to find the conditions under which the program could track the movement.
Figure 2. White dots and black background attached to pendulum.

Figure 1. Metronomes on 100g metal sheet resting on two soda cans.

Figure 4. The horizontal movement of a metronome pendulum over time can be represented as a sine wave.

Figure 5. The horizontal movement of the pendulum of a metronome resting on soda cans, which move as the pendulum swings, can be represented as a wave within a wave.

Acknowledgments Method
In order to track the movement of the pendulums, we took high speed videos of the metronomes in motion and extracted the frames. We had attached black strips with white dots to the pendulums so that the program in MATLAB could track the movement of white pixels against a black background (see figure 2).

Figure 3. High speed camera with metronome on moving platform.

Figure 6. This graph, the fourier transform of the graph in fig. 4, shows the average frequency and amplitude of that graph.