Tectonic Speaker

[Christian Swindler]

Possibilitiesare also limitless with Tectonic Elements exciters. Their unique design allows you to turn virtually anything into a speaker. Proprietary technology coupled with premium materials produce this versatile audio solution. Compact size and convenient 3M adhesion maximize placement options for hard-to-fit places such as windows and whiteboards.

Distributed Mode Loudspeakers (DMLs) utilize bending wave modal physics to propagate very wide directivity, predominantly diffuse acoustic energy into a given space. Unlike traditional loudspeaker systems, the net effect is a single, large drive unit that radiates audio over almost eight octaves in a very wide and diffuse manner.

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Balanced Mode Radiators (BMRs) combine bending wave mode technology with pistonic motion to create full audio range, wide directivity speaker drivers for lifelike sound reproduction. Use them to bring class-leading intelligibility to your products and wide coverage throughout the room.

By combining the benefits of bending-wave technology and pistonic modes of operation, Tectonic's TEBM35C10-4 BMR 2" full-range delivers extended frequency response and extremely wide directivity. The small form-factor is ideally suited for compact products that require a full-range drive unit, room filling sound and a high performance acoustic solution. The small size, extended response, and low cost also make the TEBM35C10-4 an excellent choice for use in higher output line array designs. This unique driver can be used for anything from small handheld speakers, toys and displays to larger TV speaker bars, Wi-Fi speaker systems, and even compact sound reinforcement systems.

Tectonic exciters allow you to turn many surfaces into a speaker. Proprietary technology, coupled with premium materials, produce this versatile audio solution. The proprietary TEAX32 balanced exciter is designed for rugged automotive and industrial use. All exciters are provided with 3M VHB adhesive tape attached for simple peel and stick integration.

Currently, we have a prototype in which we are using 24 basic DC vibrational motors to create vibrational patterns over a large surface. However, as we need to speed up the patterns, and DC motors have a 'speeding up' time which is quite extensive, we went looking for other options. What we ended up with is a possibility using what I think is commonly called 'audio exciters', which to my knowledge are basically small 'speakers' that can create vibrations.

However, when looking into this, it seemed like an Arduino can only pass one frequency, thus either allowing only 1 audio exciter to be controlled, or all 24 to be controlled, but always emitting similar behavior (so passing the same frequency and amplitude to all motors).

My question is whether any of you knows whether it is possible to control multiple audio exciters independently with one Arduino, and how that possibly would work? More generally, the problem comes (in our eyes) down to being able to 'send' waveforms with variable frequencies and amplitudes as inputs to multiple audio exciters.

We only really need 2 frequencies, being 60Hz and 300Hz. It will most likely not be problematic if the frequency is a few percent off, so 295Hz, or maybe even 290 although that would be a limit, would most likely not be a problem.

Our vibrators will have 3 states, sorry for not clarifying this earlier. So 0Hz, 60Hz and 300Hz.

As explained earlier, there will be 24 of them, and occasionally, a subset of those tectonic/audio exciters will be vibrating.

Well, first of all, do you need a simple square wave or a sine wave driving for the exciters ? ( that, yes, are basically just speakers without the cone) ... asking cause you mentioned vibrational patterns, that usually are obtained using sinewaves ... also vibrating motors mainly produces an equivalent of a sine wave force, mechanically speaking ... so, is influent if the vibration is crude square wave, for your application ? ...

For have the more possible control for all your parameters (and cause you say you need only 2 frequencies) you can also think of the possibility to use external oscillators with audio amplifiers modules that drives the "speakers", and use Arduino for control on/off and/or intensity of them (also each individual speaker, if needed, just a bit more of circuitry is needed, but is possible)

No worries! At this point we are trying to replicate the findings that a scientific paper has published in the area of human augmentation on the ability of humans to understand language through vibrational patterns. We are a group of students (still looking for an electrical engineer as you might imagine) from Eindhoven University (Netherlands). So research purposes, but we hope to go further into research in human augmentation Also, if it would be of any issue for people, there is no 'profit' linked to any of this, its just research because we are invested in the topic and wanna push the research field further. The paper in question

So why go through this trouble when there is research? There prototype consisted of an 1100 multichannel amplifier which is big and chunky. We are trying to get a prototype which is wearable and transportable. Hope this helps to clarify.

Not exactly sure? Also not completely sure what you mean? The paper specified a range of -32dB to -45dB relative to the maximum output of the exciters if that helps you? Think the max of those exciters is like 4W.

Coming back on this, yes for this prototype this would be enough. However, if we can come up with a possibility which would allow us to scale into more complicated stuff in the future that would be greatly preferred. Preferably we would be able to just control 24 exciters separately on all options. We would also not care too much on bigger parts etc too much. We could research later on how to make everything as small as possible. We are now prioritizing just building a good prototype on this.

Huge thanks for helping out in any way. I also see now that my initial question was inherently vague and you guys have already helped me a lot by just asking the right questions!

Uhm ... 32-33 mm diameter ..... considering also the connection part ..... also bending the tabs and placing them diagonally, i doubt they can be kept at distances less than 40mm one to other (the center of them, i mean) ..... supposing you are placing them in 8x3 array, this means they will cover around 12x32cm space ..... or in 6x4 pattern, 16x24cm space ..... do you plan to wrap them around a forearm ? .....

As alternative comes in mind only piezoelectric transducers, but they need to be well insulated (requires higher voltages, so also final transformers after the amplifiers, also if small is more space) ..... or also piezoplastic ones (PVDF), but high costs are not a good thing, and still need insulation (nothing that a Kapton tape layer cant handle, anyway) ..... other than this, the only other alternative that come me in mind for find smaller ones, is to get a bunch of cheap Chinese $2 in-ear earphones from Aliexpress or similar sites and massacre carefully dismantle (:D) them for the mini-loudspeakers inside .....

Where there is the ring of 3M adhesive, is the end of the coil holder, the part that usually is glued to the cone ... probably the adesive ring is planned for be glued on the vibrating surface, but you still can feel it vibrate if you keep it on the skin ...

but, about motors, there are disk motors (coin motors ? ) for cellphone vibrations that are around 10mm, also 8mm if smaller needed, but that way cannot be used specific frequencies, that is the request of the OP ... i mean, is not possible to set them to vibrate at specific frequency, they are just 2-coils DC motors with their own controller inside ...

I asked about the motors because I want to know how those were rigged and controlled in the original prototype. Call it curiosity if you need to. I thought it might inform the development of the sonic stimulator mechanically and electrically. And code wise maybe. Curious.

Yes, i also considered the earpieces speakers ... the possible problem is that they have a really light and thin membrane, compared with the mass of the rest of the speaker, so is probably difficult to "feel" the vibration (after all, using them we feel almost no vibration in ear, sound apart) ... maybe glueing some plastic in the center of the coil for make it weight more ...

There is also another possible alternative but need to be tested ... actually on market are available the speakers of a lot of cellphone models at low prices, and some of them are really powerful, for the size they have ... maybe using a square model with an exposed frontal membrane (like this one or similars ) and glueing a small piece of plastic in the center of the diaphragm (so it come at the same height of the border and touch the skin), may work better than earphones from earbuds ... and they are small too ... but need to be tested ...

Since the invention of the moving coil speaker, the cone diaphragm has dominated the way speakers produce sound. Tectonic has developed a flat-panel speaker system designed to offer quality audio for automotive and professional consumers. Their systems leverage bending wave modes to produce sound vibrations through its patented distributed mode loudspeaker and balanced mode radiator products, enabling customers to enjoy music in high definition. From headphones perfect for audiobooks to crystal-clear interaction with a smart home speaker, deliver a better sound experience for your customers by integrating Tectonic products into your latest innovation.

The DML500 Loudspeaker is a versatile sound reinforcement loudspeaker housed in a unique, slim-line aluminum enclosure that delivers highly intelligible and immersive audio performance, even in the most challenging architectural environments. Bending wave technology enables the DML500 to generate highly diffuse output with 165 of coverage over a wide, eight-octave bandwidth. Constructed of a composite carbon fiber/Nomex honeycomb panel, the diaphragm is driven by four high-power neodymium motor structures with 32mm voice coils. These characteristics provide unparalleled audio performance, particularly when auditioned in a reverberant environment. The DML500's rugged physical construction features a powder-coated, die-cast, aluminum frame, complete with standard VESA attachment points. Separate attachment points are added for easy system rigging integration.

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