This acoustic sensor was originally developed for an industrial application (monitoring a siren), but will also find many domestic applications. Note that the sensor is designed with safety of operation as the top priority: this means that if it fails then in the worst-case scenario it will not itself generate a false indication that a sound is detected. Also, the sensor connections are protected against polarity reversal and short-circuits. The supply voltage of 24 V is suitable for industrial use, and the output of the sensor swings over the supply voltage range.
Simple Acoustic Sensor Circuit diagram :
Simple Acoustic Sensor Circuit Diagram
The circuit consists of an electret micro-phone, an amplifier, attenuator, rectifier and a switching stage. MIC1 is supplied with a current of 1 mA by R9. T1 amplifies the signal, decoupled from the supply by C1, to about 1 Vpp. R7 sets the collector current of T1 to a maximum of 0.5 mA. The operating point is set by feedback resistor R8. The sensitivity of the circuit can be adjusted using potentiometer P1 so that it does not respond to ambient noise levels. Diodes D1 and D2 recitfy the signal and C4 provides smoothing. As soon as the voltage across C4 rises above 0.5 V, T2 turns on and the LED connected to the collector of the transistor lights. T3 inverts this signal.
If the microphone receives no sound, T3 turns on and the output will be at ground. If a signal is detected, T3 turns off and the output is pulled to +24 V by R4 and R5. In order to allow for an output current of 10 mA, T3’s collector resistor needs to be 2.4 kΩ. If 0.25 W resistors are to be used, then to be on the safe side this should be made up of two 4.7 kΩ resistors wired in parallel. Diode D4 protects the circuit from reverse polarity connection, and D3 protects the output from damage if it is inadvertently connected to the supply.
Author:Engelbert Göpfert - Copyright : Elektor
Detail:
Simple Acoustic Sensor
If the fans should fail, for example, the maximum temperature limit would lie at a considerably higher level than the desired value. The accompanying circuit, which compares the magnitude of the fan voltage to a fixed reference value, has been developed to allow the maximum temperature to be reliably detected. This circuit is tailored for 12-V fans. The reference voltage is generated by the ‘micro power voltage reference’ D1 and the FET T1, which is wired as a current source. These components are powered directly from the applied fan voltage. The current source is set up to deliver approximately 50µA.
D1 can work with as little as 10µA. The supply voltage for the IC is decoupled by R10, C3 and C4, with D4 providing over voltage protection. A maximum supply voltage of 16 V is specified for the TLC271. This opamp works with a supply voltage as low as 3 V and can handle a common-mode voltage up to approximately 1.5 V less than the positive supply voltage. Accordingly, 1.2 V has been chosen for the reference voltage. The fan voltage is reduced to the level of the reference voltage by the voltage divider R2–R3–P1. The limits now lie at 11.2 V and 16.7V.
If you find these values too high, you can reduce R2 to 100 kΩ, which will shift the limits to 9.5 V and 14.2 V. The output of the voltage divider is well decoupled by C2. A relatively large time constant was selected here to prevent the circuit from reacting too quickly, and to hold the output active for a bit longer after the comparator switches states. A small amount of hysteresis (around 1 mV) is added by R4 and R5, to prevent instability when the comparator switches. D2 ensures that the magnitude of the hysteresis is independent of the supply voltage. Two outputs have been provided to make the circuit more versatile.
Output ‘R’ is intended to directly drive the LED of an optocoupler. In addition, transistor T2 is switched on by the output of the opamp via R7 and R8, so that a relay can be actuated or a protection circuit triggered using the ‘T’ output. The high-efficiency LED D3 indicates that IC1 has switched. It can be used as a new ‘maximum’ temperature’ indicator when this circuit is added to the fan controller. The circuit draws only 0.25 mA when the LED is out, and the measured no-load current consumption (with a 12.5V supply voltage) is 2.7 mA when the LED is on.
