Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/01/29/what-is-the-fourier-transform.html
…
6 Likes
Use them almost daily solving 3d structures of proteins.
6 Likes
I remember using them with a/c compressors when I was an intern at GM back in the 80s. Those transient vibrations can either cause unpleasant harmonics in the rest of the car, or really screw up the compressor running smoothly.
1 Like
Same, except I’m just turning time-domain audio data into frequency-domain so I can see what the sound looks like.
Obligatory XKCD.
4 Likes
Wow, I remember undergrad, barely.
A mental breakthrough came for me when I realised that the Fourier basis is just one of many bases, and neither it nor the pixel basis (or delta function basis - the usual PCM kind of basis) have any claim over being special. They’re just different representations of the information.
4 Likes
FFTs are tricky. I have spent most of the last couple years teaching a CHAMP-WB + A25G digitizer and FPGA board set to be a pair of FFT spectrometers with 5 GHz bandwidth, with continuous back-to-back output of spectra, for a radio telescope. (I cheated and let a company in England write the FFT code itself; I just integrated it with all the other stuff needed.)
You can’t do that in Borland Basic.
3 Likes
Godamit, I knew I was doing something wrong! 
1 Like
Yep, just like polar coordinates or rectangular - pick the one that works for the job!
Now, if I can just get people to understand the volts/amps duality in electronics. It makes it so much easier for explaining optoelectronics when I say 1 photon = 0.55 electrons (well, actually conversion at 55% efficiency) - the volts are often meaningless!
p.s. If the signal is loud enough, like in resonance, it’s easy to just use a scope in time-domain mode.
1 Like
It is a little special, if you like harmonic oscillators.
6 Likes
1 Like
Same here, for MRI. The spatial encoding in MRI is a bit odd, so the (time domain) signal you record is in Fourier space. You have to Fourier transform it to get a picture of whatever appendage you stuck in the machine.
Following nixiebunny, we (almost) all use an FFT to achieve our Fourier transforms, which is a beautiful algorithm.
Doing it on your new-fangled electrical compooters, haw? Kids these days, eh?
2 Likes
This is what electrical engineering basically turns into.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed after 5 days. New replies are no longer allowed.
