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The Making of a Plasma Speaker Design
Hello Everyone!
First of all I would like to introduce myself to the NI Circuit Design Community. My name is Natasha Baker, and I am an R&D engineer here at NI for Multisim and Ultiboard, and also an avid participant on the Circuit Design Suite Discussion Forums.
I am always interested in hearing about cool designs created with Multisim and Ultiboard, and part of this involves checking up on the interesting YouTube videos that are being uploaded by our users. Last Friday I was working away here at our Toronto office, when I was pointed to a really neat video of a plasma speaker, which generates sound from sparks instead of speakers (wireless speakers just aren't enough these days). The design was created by Tobias Kugeler from Germany, and simulated using Multisim 11. I was able to catch up with Tobias for a brief Q&A on his design.
Video of the plasma speaker (left) and the Multisim 11 simulation (right)
Designer Name: Tobias Kugeler
Country: Germany
Occupation: Student and Electronics Trainee
Q: Could you tell us a little more about how your design works?
A: The sound you hear in the video comes directly from the arc (no speakers are being used, except for the lower frequencies that are being produced by a nearby subwoofer). The design works like a high-power radio transmitter; it consists of an oscillator with a resonant frequency of approximately 4.35 MHz followed by several amplifiers to get the desired power level at the output.
The fact that you can hear music from the arc is similar to the way a lightning bolt produces sound. The arc has a really high temperature, so the air around it expands. The action of the air expanding and contracting quickly produces soundwaves. Ultimately, this is what produces the sound.
Q: Very cool! How did Multisim play a role in your final design?
A: It was mainly the amplitude modulation part of my circuit that I wanted to improve, but trial and error methods are generally useless. So I looked for a software that could help me out by simulating various circuit setups.
Q: What differentiates Multisim from other simulation products?
A: It is really easy-to-use, and has a lot of electronic devices. I don't know any other program that can handle so many types of devices.
Q: Where did the inspiration for this idea come from?
A: It all started back in 2005. I made some experimental circuits with high voltage devices like flyback transformers, gathering the parts from old televisions. I also read that Plasma speakers were built in the early 80's, so I collected as much information as I could find and started creating schematics. I generated high voltage arcs, and tried to modulate them so they would produce music. I used serveral methods, including frequency and pulse width modulation. But the sound quality back then was not that good (videos from these circuits can be found on my Youtube channel). The original design came from a designer named Richie Burnett who came up with the idea to build a high frequency Telsa coil, so I took his concept and completed it by adding amplitude modultation for audio output.
Q: How, and when did you become interested in circuits/electronics?
A: As far as I can remember, I started experimenting with really simple electronics circuits in 1993. Back then, I never imagined that I would build a Plasma speaker.
Q: Have you made similar designs like this?
A: Well I have built several Plasma Speakers based on different technologies, and using different parts to create the high voltage arc. I built a flyback transformer-based plasma speaker, a solid-state plasma speaker, and a high-frequency Tesla Coil plasma speaker. Every design I have built has been uploaded to my Youtube channel.
Q: How long did the project take?
A: On my high frequency tesla coil, I spent around 15 months of testing. I'm proud that everything works so well now.
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Thanks again to Tobias for uploading his design and Multisim simulation on YouTube, and for taking the time to answer my questions.
In the meantime, I am looking forward to hearing from more of our users!
Natasha Baker
R&D Engineer - Multisim and Ultiboard
