15-Coil Signal Prototype
Budget: €250 – €750 EUR
I’m building a proof-of-concept that can drive about fifteen miniature coils with freely programmable electromagnetic bursts. The first milestone is to settle on the most suitable microcontroller platform—Teensy 4.1 looks promising, yet I’m open to any alternative that offers comparable speed and I/O while keeping component procurement inexpensive here in Shenzhen.
Cost-effectiveness, especially in sourcing parts locally, is my top priority, so I’d like your guidance on picking chips, drivers, and passive components that are abundant in Huaqiangbei and similar markets. Once the hardware is defined, I need firmware that lets each coil receive independent, highly variable waveforms (adjustable amplitude, frequency, duty-cycle, and pulse trains). A companion PC or tablet interface should make it easy to compose, store, and trigger those sequences without rewriting code every time.
Deliverables for the prototype:
• Schematic and compact PCB layout for the microcontroller, coil driver stage, and power regulation
• Firmware that exposes a flexible command set (USB, UART, or Ethernet—whatever best fits the chosen MCU)
• Cross-platform GUI that edits and queues signal sequences, then streams them to the board in real time
• Assembly and bench test here in Shenzhen so we can verify field strength, timing accuracy, and thermal behavior
Acceptance criteria: each coil must produce user-defined bursts from a few hertz up to several kilohertz with millisecond-level timing precision, and the interface must allow me to switch patterns on the fly.
If you have hands-on experience marrying fast microcontrollers with multi-channel drivers and can source parts locally at sensible prices, this prototype should be a smooth collaboration.
Cost-effectiveness, especially in sourcing parts locally, is my top priority, so I’d like your guidance on picking chips, drivers, and passive components that are abundant in Huaqiangbei and similar markets. Once the hardware is defined, I need firmware that lets each coil receive independent, highly variable waveforms (adjustable amplitude, frequency, duty-cycle, and pulse trains). A companion PC or tablet interface should make it easy to compose, store, and trigger those sequences without rewriting code every time.
Deliverables for the prototype:
• Schematic and compact PCB layout for the microcontroller, coil driver stage, and power regulation
• Firmware that exposes a flexible command set (USB, UART, or Ethernet—whatever best fits the chosen MCU)
• Cross-platform GUI that edits and queues signal sequences, then streams them to the board in real time
• Assembly and bench test here in Shenzhen so we can verify field strength, timing accuracy, and thermal behavior
Acceptance criteria: each coil must produce user-defined bursts from a few hertz up to several kilohertz with millisecond-level timing precision, and the interface must allow me to switch patterns on the fly.
If you have hands-on experience marrying fast microcontrollers with multi-channel drivers and can source parts locally at sensible prices, this prototype should be a smooth collaboration.