Ultrasonic Piezo Question

Other Hardware Sensors
1

Hi all,

I have a few questions about this ultrasonic transducer.

  1. How much voltage will I need to drive it? It says rated to 50V. But how do I know what the minimum needed to power it will be?
  2. Can I drive this as a transmitter from an ATTiny?
  3. What does the 5 degree beam angle mean? I assume it means that if I have another unit that I want to use as a receiver it will need to be within that 5 degree beam angle.

Thanks!

2

Link fixed: https://www.digikey.com/catalog/en/partgroup/a300a-ultrasonic-air-transducer/86733?mpart=H2KA300KA1CD00

  1. If a low voltage doesn't work for your application, increase the voltage.

  2. Yes, with a driver circuit.

  3. Consult the data sheet for the details.

3

Thanks! Would the point of the driver circuit be just so that the piezo can receive a higher voltage? Or is it more complicated than that?

4

svitak:
Thanks! Would the point of the driver circuit be just so that the piezo can receive a higher voltage? Or is it more complicated than that?

Perhaps not more complicated, but a driver circuit will have to create the AC needed to drive the piezo.

Paul

5

The Arduino outputs cannot supply enough current to drive a piezo transducer usefully, and the voltage is rather low.

6

Got it! So this could be done with anything that can direct power from another higher voltage source to the piezo. So a logic level mosfet could work right?

And then I don't understand from the datasheet how much voltage I would need for this particular piezo. It says maximum driving voltage is 50v but I don't see a minimum. Could I drive it from a coin cell battery? I'm guessing no.

Also this is a more general piezo question but will increased voltage driving the piezo just make the piezo output stronger? Like would it be the equivalent of making it louder if the sound range was audible? Does that question make sense?

7

will increased voltage driving the piezo just make the piezo output stronger

Exactly.