Analog Computer Bouncing Ball 2

Eric Archer of Rare Waves LLC demonstrates an analog computer model of a particle bouncing on a vibrating table. The collision events and velocity data are used to synthesize audio by triggering a voltage controlled percussion module. The side-scrolling oscilloscope display shows the particle position (top trace) and the table position (bottom trace). Some interesting aspects of chaotic dynamics are observed, and we also learn that it sounds really cool. The computer's main limitation is in its limited dynamic range for representation of the velocity state variable. That results in the velocity integrator being frequently overdriven in this demo. This causes the model to diverge from nature, while still offering interesting results in terms of creative audio generation. Limiting the range of values for a state variable in a self-referencing analog system has some interesting similarities to digital domain techniques for pseudorandom number generation, such as the linear congruential generator algorithm. Copyright 2016 by Eric Archer. All rights reserved.