The BFG is a small, minimalistic function generator based around the AD9833, controlled by an ATmega328P with a lovely little OLED display and rotary encoder.
- Sine, square and triangle waves
- Powered over Micro USB
- Output range of 0 to 5 volts
- Theoretical maximum output frequency of 12.5MHz
At high frequencies (>2MHz) the range of voltages begins to narrow; for example, a sine wave at 5MHz set to an amplitude of 5V only actually oscillates between about 1.5V and 4V. These frequencies are a tad much for my poor USB oscilloscope to handle, so I can't accurately measure the practical limits.
I built this for two main reasons:
- To have a basic function generator for embedded projects
- To learn simple surface-mount soldering
As the rather lovely silkscreen on the board suggests, functions are generated by three steps:
- Generate: The AD9833 generates a low-voltage signal, about 0.65V
- Amplify: The AD8052 op-amp amplifies the signal to 5V
- Scale: The MCP4131 digital potentiometer divides the signal down to the desired amplitude
cad contains KiCad files for the PCB.
firmware contains a platform.io project for the ATmega328P's firmware.