Pegasus Toroidal Experiment

Sean Burke
Laurence Choi
Engineering Research Building
Madison, WI 53706
608/263-6818

Dimensional Measurements of a Spheromak Plasma.

Relative positioning and cross sectional area have long been
considered fundamental parameters for maintaining a stable burning 
plasma.
Perhaps one of the most significant diagnostics we have for this 
measurement is a high speed (~1kHz) camera.  Since our field of view is 
confined to the port-hole of a spherical vessel, the camera must have a 
fisheye-lens on it.  This lens distortion is not constant since the
camera is often focussed on different parts of the machine.   For our 
final project, we propose to process the image accordingly; 1) We will 
write code that can recognize key fiducial marks from the interior of 
the machine in order to empirically correct the fisheye-lens
distortion. 2) We will create an algorithm that differentiates the 
plasma from the background and traces the plasma border.