Electromagnetic transducer array

The circuit board shown here is the product of a six-month development project to create an actuation package for the ferrofluid deformable mirror. An array of 7 inductive coils generate a locally adjustable magnetic field that manipulates the ferrofluid. The inductors are low-side driven, and the current is controllable to 16-bit resolution via pulse-width modulation. The software front-end configures an FPGA, which runs the board, digitally commanding the PWM frequencies via I²C. A stiff low-voltage supply enables the design to be fully scalable to 128 coils while still being powered by a wall adapter.

I led the engineering of the analog, digital, and power electronics from breadboard to production, as well as the development of the LabVIEW front-end.