LAB LOGA page on LabLog, a review site (not the lab's official page)
Ota Lab
Machine-translated · View original
The lab studies aerospace thermofluids by measuring and visualizing the flow around shock waves.
AboutAbout the lab
Measuring and seeing the flow around shock waves.
The Ota Lab measures changes in density, pressure, and temperature that occur near shock waves, contributing to the development of rockets and Shinkansen trains.
The main tool is a visualization technique called the BOS (background-oriented schlieren) method, which quantitatively measures the density of a flow from the displacement seen in images of a striped background.
Because a color grid with different colors in the vertical and horizontal directions is used as the background, displacements in both the horizontal and vertical directions can be obtained in a single shot.
The lab works on visualizing and elucidating a variety of fluid phenomena, including those in supersonic wind tunnels, shock tubes, and laser-induced bubbles in water.
Key terms
- Shock wave
- A thin layer in which pressure and density change abruptly, formed for example when an object moves faster than the speed of sound
- BOS method
- A visualization technique that photographs a striped background and measures the density of a flow from the apparent shift of the pattern
- Cavitation
- A phenomenon in which bubbles form when the pressure of a liquid falls below the saturated vapor pressure determined by its temperature
ResearchResearch themes
The lab quantitatively measures density changes near shock waves with the BOS method, a new visualization technique. While the conventional schlieren method is a qualitative measurement, the BOS method allows quantitative measurement with a simpler optical system.
*Illustrative imageDensity measurement in a supersonic wind tunnel
Around an object flying at high speed, shock waves can form from transonic speeds of about Mach 0.8, interfering with the airframe and making flight difficult. The lab places a model in a suction-type supersonic wind tunnel and quantitatively measures the density of the flow around it with the BOS method.
*Illustrative image3D measurement around flying bodies
The flow behind a flying body is complex, and the accuracy of analysis by computational fluid dynamics is not very high. The lab photographs the body from multiple directions with the BOS method and measures the density field around it in three dimensions through 3D image reconstruction.
*Illustrative imageObserving shock waves in a shock tube
Shock waves are a source of noise and vibration, and for aircraft the sonic boom is a factor that limits flight paths. The lab generates weak shock waves in the transonic range with a diaphragmless shock tube and measures them with the BOS method.
*Illustrative imageLaser-generated bubbles and shock waves
When a laser is focused in water to create plasma, the surrounding water locally evaporates and forms a cavitation bubble. The lab quantitatively measures, with the BOS method, the density and pressure fields of the shock wave produced by the motion of the bubble.
MembersFaculty
The members of the Ota Lab are the faculty and students in the master's and undergraduate programs.As of 2026
- Associate ProfessorMasanori Ota
VoicesStudent voices
Ratings and reviews reflect the experiences of individual current or former students, not the lab's official views. Whether a lab has reviews, or how many, says nothing about the lab itself.
Students who take part in an interview may receive a thank-you gift worth ¥1,000, regardless of what they say.
Student ratings (0 students)
--
--
--
--
--
--
Student voices answer questions like these
- What's great about this lab?
- What did you learn after joining?
- What's the vibe, and what is the professor like?
- Who is this lab for?
- Where do graduates go?
Your experience can help younger students choose their lab. Your name won't be shown.
Write a lab reviewAnonymous · Your draft is saved if you stopRelatedLabs similar to Ota Lab
Systems and Control LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of EngineeringResearch on state-of-the-art nonlinear control theory, switc…
Biomedical Imaging Lab (Suga Lab)Faculty of Engineering, Department of EngineeringBiomedical engineering and medical image engineering through…
Shiina LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of EngineeringTechnologies for visualizing the invisible with light: lidar…
Yu LabFaculty of Engineering, Department of EngineeringResearch and development of fundamental robotics technologie…The information on this page is compiled by the LabLog team from the lab's public information and interviews. For corrections or removal requests, please contact LabLog, not the lab.
Report an errorAbout the images
The top and research theme images are illustrative and were not taken at the lab. They are cropped from Wikimedia Commons images. Cropped CC BY-SA images are provided under the same CC BY-SA license as the original (version shown on each line).
- Top image: “AirBOS4 (ACD F4 P Hprint)” NASA Ames Research Center / JT Heineck / Public domain (cropped)
- Density measurement in a supersonic wind tunnel: “Model in Supersonic Wind Tunnel GPN” NACA / Public domain (cropped)
- 3D measurement around flying bodies: “Schlieren .223 Projectile - Bow Shock Wave 01” Nathan Boor / CC BY 4.0 (cropped)
- Observing shock waves in a shock tube: “U of ottawa shock tube 44” Achim Hering / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Laser-generated bubbles and shock waves: “Shock sink” AndersIE / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Systems and Control Lab): “HQ-90 aircraft arrived and assembled at NASA’s Armstrong Flight Research Center (AFRC )” NASA Armstrong Flight Research Center / NASA/Ken Ulbrich / Public domain (cropped)
- Related lab (Biomedical Imaging Lab (Suga Lab)): “An MRI scanner” Walter Davies / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Shiina Lab): “20151124 lidar system scanner of atmosphere National Observatory of Athens Greece 1” Ggia / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
- Related lab (Yu Lab): “043 MNACTEC (Terrassa), exposició temporal Robots, àmbit dels robots humanoides” Enric / CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped)
About LabLog
LabLog is a lab review app for students only. Student members at each university interview students in labs and publish what they say. Student voices can only be read by students who sign up with a university email address. Operated by bestiee Inc.
Learn more about LabLog ↗Search engines and AI may reference the basic lab info and rating summaries on this page and the description of LabLog. Student voices are for student members only. Automated collection by programs (scraping, or input to or training of AI) is prohibited under Article 8 of the Terms of Service. If you need data for research or analysis, please contact us.