Tracker is a video analysis and modelling application designed for physics education. It allows students and teachers to extract measurements from recorded experiments, making it possible to examine real-world motion using concepts from classical mechanics.
Instead of relying entirely on laboratory sensors, users can analyse ordinary recordings of moving objects. Examples include falling bodies, projectiles, collisions, oscillating systems and motion along curved paths.
A typical workflow involves opening a video, calibrating distances, establishing a coordinate system and following the position of an object through successive frames. Tracker then calculates quantities that can be plotted and examined to investigate the underlying physical behaviour.
The software is particularly useful when comparing experimental observations with mathematical models. Students can construct particle models, analyse measured trajectories and assess how closely theoretical predictions reproduce the motion in a recording.
Tracker also contains image-processing tools and data-analysis facilities. These help with measurement accuracy, graphical interpretation and the preparation of teaching materials.
This is free and open source software.
Key Features
- Frame-by-frame analysis of recorded motion.
- Manual and automatic object tracking.
- Position, velocity and acceleration measurements.
- Distance calibration and coordinate-axis adjustment.
- Analysis of centre-of-mass motion.
- Multiple coordinate systems and reference frames.
- Dynamic particle models for comparing theory with observations.
- Two-body motion and collision modelling.
- Interactive vectors and vector addition.
- Graphs of measured and calculated physical quantities.
- Curve fitting for experimental data analysis.
- Video filters for improving visibility and measurement.
- Image regions and line profiles for analysing colour intensity.
- Export of data, images and annotated video content.
- Undo and redo facilities for editing analysis projects.
- Cross-platform support – runs on Linux, macOS, and Windows.
Website: opensourcephysics.github.io/tracker-website
Support:
Developer: Douglas Brown, Open Source Physics Project
License: GNU General Public License v3.0
Tracker is written in Java. Learn Java with our recommended free books and free tutorials.
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