Tracker (video analysis software)
Tracker is a video analysis and modeling tool built on the Open Source Physics Java code library. It is an open-source software program designed for use in physics education and distributed under the GNU General Public License.
Video analysis involves tracking the motions of objects in a video to obtain 2-D position-time data and determine physical quantities such as velocity, acceleration, momentum and energy. Tracker provides both manual and automated tracking.
Another video analysis option in Tracker is measuring the RGB line profile of a light spectrum or other optical phenomenon.
Video modeling involves defining a theoretical model and drawing an animation of the model directly on a video. Tracker has a built-in dynamic model builder to define particles that move according to Newton's laws. External models built with spreadsheets, Easy Java Simulations or other modeling program can also be displayed.
Tracker 1.0 was distributed on disc at the 2003 summer meeting of the American Association of Physics Teachers. The current version 5.0, released in March 2018, is distributed online.
References
- W. Christian, Open Source Physics: A User’s Guide with Examples, Addison-Wesley (2006).
- D. Brown & A. Cox, Innovative Uses of Video Analysis, The Physics Teacher 47, 145 (2009).