PCB testing and firmware development for acoustic transducer

**Project Description**

This project focuses on the verification, testing, and validation of an already fabricated printed circuit board (PCB) designed to drive and interface with an underwater acoustic transducer. The primary objective is to confirm that the manufactured PCB meets its design specifications and performs reliably under both bench and simulated underwater operating conditions. The testing phase will include visual and continuity inspection to rule out fabrication defects, power-on testing to verify voltage rails and current draw, and functional testing of key subsystems such as the transmit driver circuitry, receive amplification/filtering chain, and any signal conditioning stages. Signal integrity tests (waveform shape, frequency response, gain, noise floor) will be performed using an oscilloscope, function generator, and signal analyzer to ensure the board can accurately generate and receive acoustic signals in the target frequency range. Where feasible, the transducer will be interfaced with the PCB and tested in a controlled water tank environment to validate end-to-end acoustic transmission and reception performance, including range, signal-to-noise ratio, and response consistency across multiple trials.

In parallel, the project involves developing and testing embedded firmware to control the PCB's core functions, including signal generation for transmission, data acquisition from the receive path, timing and synchronization, and communication with an external host (e.g., via UART, SPI, or I2C). The firmware will be developed incrementally, starting with low-level driver code for peripherals (ADC, DAC, timers, communication interfaces), followed by higher-level control logic implementing the transducer's operating modes (e.g., ping/echo, continuous wave, or coded pulse transmission). Testing will proceed in stages: unit testing of individual firmware modules on the bench, integration testing with the PCB and transducer to confirm correct timing and signal fidelity, and system-level testing in water to validate real-world acoustic performance under firmware control. Debugging will leverage tools such as a logic analyzer, debugger/JTAG interface, and serial logging to identify and resolve issues in real time. The end goal is a fully validated hardware-firmware system demonstrating reliable underwater acoustic transmission and reception, with documented test results and firmware ready for further application-level development.