#858 NanoLev

The most minimalist acoustic levitation demo using an Arduino Nano to drive a pair of TCT40-16 ultrasonic transmitters.

Here’s a quick demo..

Notes

I had my first taste of acoustic levitation with a kit - see LEAP#849 Ultrasonic Levitator Kit.

With this project, I’m going back t the basics to reproduce the early projects that demonstrated this concept.

This is the most basic form - driving a pair of TCT40-16 ultrasonic transmitters with an Arduino Nano.

Circuit Design

Designed with Fritzing: see NanoLev.fzz.

The Sketch

See NanoLev.ino.

Essential operation:

• sets up an interrupt service routine to fire at 80kHz
• each interrupt: toggles the A0-A1 and A2-A3 output pairs

Here is a trace of the outputs captured on a scope:

• CH1 (Yellow) - A0
• CH2 (Blue) - A1
• CH3 (Red) - A2
• CH4 (Green) - A3

Build and Test

Adjusting the piezo spacing and testing levitation before soldering in place:

The completed test module:

In operation:

Works very well! See the demo..

Credits and References

• LEAP#856 TCT40-16
• Ultrasonic Levitation Acoustic Levitation Experiment
• https://millermansprojects.blogspot.com/2018/11/mini-acoustic-levitation.html
• Original project from Make Magazine by Ulrich Schmerold.
• https://www.instructables.com/Acoustic-Levitator/
• easy acoustic levitator 3D Design by IB-as
• https://github.com/gbarbarov/NanoLev