Winter Break

Over the break the group purchased a large list of components needed for implementation of the project. All passive and active components listed in the proposed budget were purchased. This includes Op-Amps, Linear Regulators, Comparators, MOSFETs, Relays, Power Amps , CODECs, and Capacitors.

Total cost of the order amounted to $217.34

After considering the feedback given by the final panel of advisors, the group decided to omit the battery operation aspect of the design and instead power the device through a regulated mains voltage.

This will require the use of a step-down transformer and Linear voltage regulators to achieve the various voltages needed.

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John

Over the break, John designed an additional stage of the mic preamplifier circuit

The addition of a 1st order low-pass filter stage with a cutoff frequency of 2.6 kHz will help attenuate any HF interference that the microphones may pick up.

Group delay of the preamp is now 169.5 and 30.6 uS at 50 and 2.6k Hz respectively.

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Hunter

Over the winter break I practiced soldering different components on various sizes of double sided PCB boards. This project requires precise soldering for most of the components that will be used in the project, so more practice and research will continue to achieve efficient soldering skills for each task.

Also, soldered two 6 foot long speaker wire, and applied heat shrink for durability/protection, to the other set of transducers that will be used for additional testing.

The Arduino Mega 2560 Rev3 microcontroller and the IL9486 8pin shield, used for inserting the TFT LCD touchscreen directly onto of the Arduino, arrived during winter break. I began practicing and refreshing myself with the Arduino C++ program language to get more familiar with both the code and the Mega 2560 functionality to work on achieving the desired results.

The video added below displays an oscilloscope graph with an active sine wave that was programmed for practice and to test that the display functions properly.

The goal is to include buttons that initiate a spectrum analyzer that displays the error, or reference, signals on the screen when pressed/activated by the user. Continued research and tests are required before it becomes fully functional. Progress will be updated accordingly.