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Experiments in optics are amenable to simulation and analysis by first year university physics students in a course including a computational environment. Many may be accomplished safely by remote students using only their mobile phones. I describe several applications including camera calibration and precise 3d location of objects using multiple mobile phone images.

AAPT SM 21

Computational optics in first year university physics

computation optics introductory university physics

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Group-Worthy Physics Challenges

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Working together, apart, with IOLabs in remote introductory physics laboratories

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Sensors equipped with Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE) can stream data into web apps running in the Google Chrome browser. This allows students or instructors to collect data into a web-based electronic lab notebook and immediately collaborate, analyze, and provide feedback. Additionally, this means one web-based platform can provide lab instructions, data collection and analysis, lab report submission, and grading. This greatly expands the ways instructors and students can use data collected from sensors in all teaching environments. Pivot Interactives is one platform that enables this, with a growing list of compatible BLE sensors.

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Computational optics in first year university physics

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