Ultrasonic Scanner

Moving up and down, side to side, like a rollercoaster...

Class Name: EE 91 (Experimental Projects in Electronic Circuits)

Institution: Caltech (Undergrad)

Project Duration: Oct 2025 - Mar 2026

Project Description: Ultrasonic imager with sub-cm resolution that scans a fixed area underwater

Project Work

EE91_Poster_Final (1).pdf

EE 91a Ultrasound Design Description Document

Design Description Document
Note: initial design specs were loosened later on as I relalized the limitations of my system)

GitHub - happyRainDrop/EE_91_Ultrasound_All_Project_CodeContribute to happyRainDrop/EE_91_Ultrasound_All_Project_Code development by creating an account on GitHub.

Prototyping Highlights

Full prototyping and assembly worklogs and reports are in this folder.

3D render of PCB design
(Note: The PCB does not include XY stage motor drivers. This is for the creation and capture of depth lines only)

The xy stage was something I committed to last minute ("last minute" being a month before my demo) after confirming the rest of the hardware worked!
It was one of those things from my initial design spec I thought would be too ambitious to actually implement, but I found a simple way to do it with just 3D printed parts and cheap steppers. (Compared to the CAD model, I did have to replace my original 28BYJ steppers with NEMA17s for more torque, though, after first iteration of building).
(All CAD parts here)

First time the entire PCB worked fully with the software to image the wall

First proof-of-concept test with breadboarded push-pull stage and an ATL Access 3 Transducer, the only transducer I was ever able to get to see through soft tissue

Where the idea for the "binary image" came from -- echoes from the back of the tub seem to dissapear when something non-perpendicular is placed in front

What I learned

Skills Exercised/Gained

Verilog/Lucid
Using external ADC chips
Adapting reference designs from datasheets
Push-pull stages
4-layer PCB design with ground stitching and multiple power planes
XY stage design