I have a relatively simple question which may have a less simple answer (amazing how often that ends up being the case).
I'm working on a project for a class at school. It's not a programming or electrical engineering class (project management if you can believe it).
We're creating a "product" as an output of the classwork. I've got a Leonardo board running a bunch of LEDs and driving a buzzer. Powering the 'duino off 5V USB incoming power with sufficient margins for all the power needed. Staying within the 20mA recommended for each output until I got to the buzzer. It's only 20mA -- BUT it wants between 6 and 12V to drive it. I haven't received it yet, and I'm hoping it'll activate at 5V, BUT want to be prepared if it doesn't.
One of the elements of the project is we have to keep costs minimal, so ordinarily I'd just add a boost converter circuit board (and fans) to get the extra volt(s) to get to 6 or 9V to drive the thing properly. Downside (other than cost) there is the loss of driving a boost converter MOSFET and associated circuitry when I don't need the whole thing.
Wondering if I can get by with a simpler circuit --- perhaps even just a capacitor and diode since the current requirements are within range of the output of my little Leonardo board. The other thought that occurred was potentially driving a relay board from the GPIO pin, and that's not off the table, but then I have to branch the 5V USB incoming power before feeding it into the board (or take off at VCC) and THEN boost that and THEN switch it. Not nearly as simple as I'd like it to be, so hoping there's a clean path I'm just not imagining because I'm not an EE.
You realize you have opened yourself to this question, don't you????
IF you are taking a project management class, how did you manage to order a buzzer that was not rated for the 5 volts your project uses?
That said, the buzzer has an internal transistor oscillator that will work at most any voltage that will allow the oscillation to begin. The sound may not begin immediately when 5 volts is applied. Have you actually measured the 5 volts to see if the problem is greater than you anticipate? Part of management!
Fortunately, my background has prepared me for the obnoxious condescension present on internet message boards. Your message is an excellent example of unnecessary condescension and making assumptions based on a lack of evidence and information. Might use it in a case study!
To enlighten you, the buzzer was chosen because I needed a multi-tone/warble sound at a price point that didn't exist in the 3-5V range for the budget we had available. If this were a standard project, we would have sought the additional few dollars to get a device that would have aligned. Of course, if we were doing this as a true product, we'd start with a 9V supply, feed the Leonardo at that voltage (since it has a built-in regulator) and use a relay or h-bridge to drive the buzzer at 9V.
The parts all arrive tomorrow -- I'm planning ahead (y'know, managing!) by working through backup plans to my backup plans to make sure we have a path to viability for our little prototype.
Thanks for the info on the oscillator circuit. Will hope 5V will be sufficient!
Get over it.
One day you also will be a greybeard, and then you can return the favour.
Which one.
There are two types of buzzers. Active and passive. Active buzzers (the ones that make a sound when you connect them to a DC voltage) can't be used for a multi-tone sound. The buzzers that don't make a sound when you connect them to a voltage are sometimes sold as piezo buzzers. With the "toneAC" library and two Arduino pins, you can send different tones with 10volt peak/peak to them.
Leo..
Not nearly as simple as I'd like it to be, so hoping there's a clean path I'm just not imagining because I'm not an EE.