Close
0%
0%

Function Generator

Simple function generator using an AVR, built from parts I have lying around

Similar projects worth following
A while back I decided to make a function generator to make different waveforms that I can play with on my scope. I don't have much use for one of these, so I didn't really want to spend much money on it.

While this is definitely not the first AVR-based function generator ever built, it did give me some experience with new things for (the non-electrical engineer) me, and I think that I have improved a bit on some of the other designs out there.

What this function generator can do:

  • Generate digital square waves at 512 frequencies between 10MHz and 152 Hz, either directly output from an AVR's pin, or buffered via an op amp (the slew rate of the op amp will determine the upper limit of the square wave output). The square wave output is in the range 0 - 5v. From reading these waves on my logic analyzer, they appear to be well within 0.1% error rate. (The frequencies are selected directly from the calculated timings using TIMER0 CTC mode, so the accuracy should be pretty much as good as you can get with a given crystal).
  • Generate a number of sampled waveforms from between 1000Hz and 10Hz (in 2Hz increments). Sampled waveforms include Sine, Triangle, Sawtooth (up and down), Staircase (up and down), and Square. These waveforms are output in (user selectable) 0 - 5v or -5 - 5v range. These waveforms are not quite as accurate as the digital square waves, since there is more work being done by the CPU and the 2Hz increment results in a bit of a rounding error on some of the frequencies. They are still pretty good though (I would say that a very rough estimate is that they are within 1% error rate).
  • Generate a PWM signal appropriate for controlling hobby servos. The user selects a PWM phase between 400us and 2600us (in 2us increments), with a set period of 20000us (i.e the standard interface for hobby servos). As with the digital square wave output, this is done mostly with the timer code (albeit with two very short interrupts being added to handle some logic), and so the frequencies are very accurate.
  • Generate an output voltage at the specified level (between -5 and 5V or 0 and 5V depending on the position of the range switch).

Future plans include arbitrary PWM waveform generation, where the user can specify the period and phase.

The entire project is placed within a custom built wooden (hickory) enclosure, with a 16x2 text LCD and some buttons for an interface.

Digital to Analog conversion for the sampled waveforms is handled by an R2R ladder constructed by non-precision resistors. The resistors were selected using the algorithm found on http://www.nerdkits.com/forum/thread/1815/ .

  • Voltage Output Mode

    The Big One02/05/2015 at 04:35 0 comments

    I was working on my power supply design today, and found myself in need of a variable voltage supply (to simulate the output of a DAC driven by a microcontroller, which will eventually allow for variable voltage and maximum current setpoints). Well, wait a second here... I already have a DAC!

    The new mode (creatively called "Voltage Output"), simply writes an 8 bit value to the DAC, and lets it output a voltage. Since the analog channel can have a range of -5 to 5V or 0 to 5V, I show both values (i.e. "-2.93V / +1.08V). Depending on the position of the range switch, the output will be one or the other of these two values.

    (In this picture the multimeter is measuring the post-op amp voltage, not the input voltage, which is why it shows -11.22 instead of +1.08)

    I have calibrated it in the source code with actual values found in my system. The min / max values are therefore dead on; in between things are not perfect to two decimal places, but it is generally accurate to one decimal place. (I assume that it is due to non linearities in the DAC and op amp that cause the differences; regardless, it is perfectly fine for what I need, and best of all it cost nothing more than an hour of programming time).

    Cheers

  • User Interface

    The Big One01/31/2015 at 04:52 0 comments

    The user interface is pretty simple:

    1. There are four power jacks (to get the full range of +/- 5v output on the digital signal, you should run it with a dual supply of something between +/- 6v to +/- 12v). The second ground port allows you to chain to a breadboard in case your power supply does not have multiple ground ports (mine does not).
    2. There are three outputs: digital, PWM, and analog. The digital output is for the fast and slow square waves. The PWM output (and its accompanying servo header) are for the servo test mode (and eventually will be for the general PWM mode, when I get around to programming it). The analog output is for the various analog waveforms.
    3. There are two switches. The one beside the digital output enables or disables the opamp buffer for the digital signal. (At least with the op amp that I am using, you get a lot of slew if the frequency is faster than about 10kHz.) The switch beside the analog output changes the waveform range from 0 - 5v to -5 - 5v.
    4. The red button is 'Mode'. Use it to switch between the various waveform options. Hold it down to start waveform generation, and hold it down again to stop waveform generation. You cannot switch to another waveform while the current one is running.
    5. The other two buttons change the frequency up and down. Hold them down to go faster. You can change frequencies while the waveform is active, and the change takes effect immediately.

  • A few feature changes

    The Big One01/30/2015 at 23:49 0 comments

    Over the last couple of days, I have made a bunch of enhancements to this project:

    • Added a three pin header to the front of the box (right over top of the PWM banana plug output) so that you can plug a servo directly into the function generator for testing.
    • Added a Square (Slow) digital mode to complement the Square (Fast) mode. The slow mode uses the same digital output that the fast one does, but is 1/256 the frequency. (The high speed square starts at 10MHz and goes down to 39.062kHz; the slow square starts at 39.062kHz and goes down to 152Hz). These two modes are meant for very high accuracy square waveforms.
    • Renamed the DDS Square wave to "Square (Analog)" to differentiate it from the other two digital square outputs.
    • Add protection diodes to prevent issues from plugging in the power supply backwards
    • Fix some UI bugs (incrementing speed when holding buttons, garbage chars on the LCD, etc)
    • Shaved a few CPU cycles off of TIMER1_OVF ISR by using GPIOR2 instead of push / pop for saving SREG
    • Implemented TIMER1_COMPA in assembly so that we don't need to do the standard push register preamble (play safe, kids!)
    I still need to figure out a good way to label the input / output jacks. I am thinking about cutout vinyl letters (think custom stickers), but am open to suggestions. (My first choice would have been a laser cut / etched box, but having it done as a service costs too much and obtaining my own laser cutter is even more expensive. Eventually I can see myself going this route, but not in the near future). Any suggestions on other options would be most appreciated.

  • Magic Smoke

    The Big One01/30/2015 at 01:48 0 comments

    Who'd have thunk it... if you plug your +/- 12v supply in backwards, the magic smoke gets out of the op amp!

    I am lucky to not have lost other components (most notably the LDO regulator or the already-damaged AVR that I wanted to try using rather than throw it away). I have now added some diodes on the +/- input lines to protect against reverse polarity supply.

    (Edit: turns out that it did destroy the LDO as well, it just took a bit longer until it completely gave up the ghost. The AVR is still hanging in there, though...)

    I have some different colored cables on order, so hopefully this won't happen again. :-)

  • Breadboard Video

    The Big One01/29/2015 at 21:04 0 comments

    Here's a video of the breadboard prototype, prior to moving it to a perf board.


  • Initial Commit

    The Big One01/28/2015 at 23:47 0 comments

    First project log... not much to say here. I have finished the breadboard prototyping, and all looks good. I am currently in the process of moving to perfboard and making an enclosure on the scroll saw. Pictures, schematics, and code will be forthcoming as soon as I get things organized.

    Please stand by!

View all 6 project logs

Enjoy this project?

Share

Discussions

menna.awad1996 wrote 05/01/2017 at 12:53 point

can i get the code by arduino?

  Are you sure? yes | no

DainBramage wrote 01/31/2015 at 00:37 point

Thermal tape based label printers make fair quality labels and aren't terribly expensive. You'll never end up with laser-cut quality that way, but it's orders of magnitude better than the old Dymo plastic strips.

  Are you sure? yes | no

The Big One wrote 01/31/2015 at 02:56 point

Ahh, good call. I will keep this in mind. Thanks!

  Are you sure? yes | no

Similar Projects

Does this project spark your interest?

Become a member to follow this project and never miss any updates