Feedback Controller for Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems (MEMS) Microphone
Context:
This project was for senior design capstone project required for all Senior Electrical Engineers. This was done as a three person team project (credited in the papers below). My main contributions were to the operational amplifier analysis, i.e., noise analysis, non-ideal characteristics and circuit design.
Abstract/Summary:
A MEMS microphone was developed by Dr. Ron Miles of Binghamton University. The microphone is modeled after the ears of the Ormia ochracea fly which will allow a micro-scale microphone to not only detect sound pressure, but the direction which the sound is coming from. The benefit of this tiny microphone is that it has a very low noise floor meaning it is very sensitive to sound. This is great for it's intended use as a hearing aid microphone. The microphone, however, has a resonant peak in its freqency response. It sounds as if someone were talking down a tube or tunnel with a stuffy nose. The goal of the project was to design a feedback controller that would reduce or eliminate the resonant peak.
There are two different papers and presentations documenting the progress of the project. The fall paper focuses on the design of the project while the spring paper focuses on the implementation and testing of the designs.