I picked up some sample smart materials because I have a small project that I want to put 'magic glass' on the outside of so to speak.
I picked up a couple of different sample pieces from a couple different sources to try and one came with a AC adapter/converter to drive the 'clearing' of the smart film, the other came with a small battery operated unit.
Either one seems to clear the material, but throwing the testors on them produced different results.
The AC version (110vac US plug) seems to output ~17vac @ 60Hz. It also seems to clear the film a little better. The DC version (two AA batteries at 3VDC) outputs ~7.5vac @ 500Hz.
I'm not sure if this smart film needs specific frequencies or not, but this was a purchase off banggood of just a couple small sample pieces about 10cmx15cm each.
My project uses primarily 5vdc with access to low-current 3.3v sources. But I'm guessing this thing would draw too much current (for my 3.3v using the existing driver board) to clear all four panes even after I cut them down to fit inside the project.
So I'm guessing I need something that will generate an AC voltage in the 15v range somewhere between 50-500Hz to drive this thing but I know nothing about building oscillators or inverters. I would also prefer something that could run straight off a 5v source.
(I'm running out of room to put new DiY components. (I'm already stuffing a few props, a servo, a stepper motor, at least 25 LEDs, an i2c PWM board, ultrasonic vaporizor, and a a Raspberry Pi with a ReSpeaker shield a pair of speakers somehow inside of a 10"x6"x6" brass lantern! The smaller/simpler the circuit the better)
Any help is appreciated.
--EDIT 1-- the 110vac which outputs 17vac @ 60Hz is only about 1.4ma The 3VDC which outputs 7.5vac @ 500Hz is 7ma