I have finished an Arduino project which contains a buzzer
I am driving straight from a 3.3V PWM output pin through a resistor.
It was pretty quiet to begin with and once inside the little box I made for the project its virtually inaudible.
I didn't pay too much attention to the buzzer at development time as I thought it was just a nice-to-have. However in real world use it seems an audible buzzer is going to be essential.
Unfortunately I have almost no space left inside the box for a bigger buzzer or much space for amplification circuitry. So whatever the solution it needs to be small.
I am also more of a software engineer than a hardware engineer so could do with some tips on anything I can do to improve the output from the buzzer. It only needs to be one single tone.
One thing I can do is add a transistor but this I'm guessing wont help me very much as what I need is a bigger voltage??
Will a transformer help me?
If so which one - so many options!
Or a different (but equally tiny) buzzer?
Thanks
Use a transistor to get more current, I assume you have a Due or Zero, they can only supply a tiny current.
Mount the buzzer in the box but over a hole to let the sound out. You will be amazed at the improvement. Then for double the output voltage drive it with a h-bridge.
Do you think this would work...
Well it would do something but it needs about 4.5V to turn it on. As you only have 3V3 it could be less than the 80mR in the data sheet.
The big problem is that is is not actually a H-bridge just four FETs, and it is surface mount, are you comfortable soldering that. You would need to supply complementary signals and be careful you don't get shoot through, that is both FETs being on at the same time.
I am driving straight from a 3.3V PWM output pin through a resistor.
What's the resistor value? Usually, you can use a piezo transducer without a resistor.
Are you running it at it's resonant frequency?
An alternative to an H-bridge is to drive it with two pins differentially (instead of connecting one side to ground). However, you'll probably have to make the tone "manually" which means you'll have to branch-off and pause any other functions while making the tone.
It says, 6V electro mechanical Audio Transducer.
Coil resistance 45 ohms, use a snubbing diode and drive with transistor.
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