so i'm working on my senior design project and we're building a smart actuator. the actuator is a piece of piezoelectric material that will be mounted on a piece of substrate. it'll receive an electrical signal and the piezoelectric material will shrink to bend the actuator. we're going to be using LabView and a DAQ device to control the actuator. what i'm in charge of right now is building a power amplifier that will output 5-30V to control the actuator. the DAQ device can only handle 8.5 mA. i'm not an ME or EE so i only know the basics about circuits. now we're trying to build this power amplifier on a very small budget, $30 +/- $10. can any of you help me with design this power amplifier?

 

A transistor here, a capacitor there........No really i sucked at building circuits, hopefully a computer guy can chime in and help ya out.

 

Computer guys don't rilly build circuits, anymore. Google "simple amplifier" or some such, and see what you get. I haven't "built" a circuit since kolige, 25 years ago.

 

So the limitations of the actuator are 8.5mA and you need 5-30 V? Use a 9 volter! that has waaaay less than 8.5mA lol. I really can't tell what you're asking, what do you have so far?

 

im an EE

 

i need an amplifier that can take a voltage range from 0-5V and output a voltage from 5-30V. i don't have anything so far because i have no idea how to start something like this lol.

 

You can take a transformer (the fat blocks that you normally plug into the wall), Radio shack sells those already assembled, you just have to have the right tip, in this case I don't think you need it since you can dissasemble the leads and just hook it straight. Now, this will put out a constant output of whatever you choose.

If not, I don't know if you can handle the coiling for transformer making, is really time consuming and it plainly sucks.

 

i don't think i'm explaining this well enough so i made a sketch lol. in engineering, we refer to things we don't know about as black box haha.


edit: ok ignore the thumbnail

 

Here's the stuff for your black courtain, had to consult with a colleague.

A single stage amplifier will be within your budget and you will need resistors as voltage dividers, and a transistor. I kind of drew it out but not sure if is going to be fine. You still need to add valences.



Here's also a site that might help you assigning valences:

http://sound.westhost.com/no-opamps.htm

****EDIT****

That's for a fixed circuit, if you want to adjust input and output you need variable resistors going to the grounds.

 

wow that's awesome dan. ok a question about that circuit. if the power supply stays constant, will i get a different out if i input say 1V versus 5V? the only controls we'll have is from a computer that generates the input voltage so a variable resistor in that circuit is out of the question.