o Once we get the DCDC converters, set up

							1: Tentative Project Schedule
          o Once we get the DC/DC converters, set up a test voltage supply circuit to
              test isolation.
   •   Modify the VIC design in Dr. Kaczmeric’s paper to fit our needs, determine part
       numbers of circuit components needed (Yusko, Ebben).
   •   Have a working channel by April 7 (All).
   •   Check out a locker cart from the tool shop in the basement of ECB (Grasse).

Difficulties Experienced
       Everything went smoothly this week; we encountered no significant difficulties.

Hours (Running Totals)
Team Meetings                24.0 hr
Dani                         36.5 hr
Tony                         35.0 hr
Erik                         35.0 hr
Marty                        36.5 hr
Multichannel Brain Tissue Stimulator Design Team
Client: Professor Matt Jones

Team Members
Marty Grasse (Team Leader)
Dani Ebben (BSAC)
Tony Wampole (BWIG)
Erik Yusko (Communications)

March 8 – March 23 (Includes Spring Break)

Problem Statement
       In order to stimulate neurons in a more realistic manner, a controller device is
needed to independently control current on 16 electrodes in a multiple-electrode array.
The device must use parallel logic from a computer to control the current. The device
must be isolated from electrical noise so the measurements are accurate.

Last Week’s Goals
   • Test Texas Instruments VICs, modify our existing gating design based on test
      results (Grasse, Yusko, Ebben).
   • Enjoy spring break (All).

Summary of Accomplishments
   • Met to try to test gating solution, had limited success. Over break reworked the
     gating design, now have a good solution (Yusko, Ebben).
   • Met on March 22 to firm up plan for how to get a working channel (All).
         o Goal: Working channel by April 7. From there it will be relatively easy to
              reproduce the channel and enclose in a rack-mount chassis.
   • Modified previous signal gating design, now have a good solution. Determined
     that if this gating solution is used, we need a VIC with a transconductance of 0.2
     mA/V (Yusko, Ebben).
   • Determined that a linear potentiometer will allow us to not worry about keeping
     output linear. This is accomplished through two internal potentiometers rather
     than just one (Ebben).
   • Found a potentially viable DC/DC converter priced at $9 per unit (Wampole).
         o We will discuss with Burke O’Neal at our meeting whether or not this will
              work for our purposes.
   • Updated Website (Wampole).

This Week’s Goals
   • Meet with Burke O’Neal to discuss
   • DC/DC converter selection. Also check out multimeter, power supply, soldering
      equipment, and breadboards (Grasse, Wampole).
         o After meeting, order DC/DC converters.