I recently discovered TI's ULC1001 driver chip for ultrasonic lens cleaning. I'd like to try this in my next project, but I'm not sure what transducer to use.
For an application like his, are transducers available off-the-shelf, or it is necessary to have them custom made? Could I use something like one of those piezo speakers? (I am not asking for product recommendations).
You would not be able to use the transducer shown- it's a "bender" which operates in an oilcan mode, typically resonant at a few kHz (audible, not ultrasonic). The chip is designed to use transducers like this:
High-Efficiency Direct Drive (25 kHz - 5 MHz)
The kind designed for ultrasonic foggers would be better suited (typically hundreds of kHz to several MHz), however perhaps not for the intended purpose of cleaning dust from optics. The diagrams I see online suggest the transducers are tall multi-element stacks and thus optimized for (relatively) large motion- the elements would be mechanically in series and electrically in parallel. I've seen such items for sale surplus (somewhere). Of course if you have very deep pockets, there are very competent specialist suppliers who will make just what you need, and only one or two if you need it.
TI bundles some of their eval kits for that particular chip with a transducer, however they seem to be "ask and we'll see if you qualify" rather than offered through distributors.
