Tympan Rev F Hardware Design

#1

Welcome to the new Tympan Rev F, which will be going into production this winter of 2024.

If you have any questions or comments about the hardware, this thread is the place to start.
Our hardware design and development will be hosted on github in the Tympan Rev F repository.
The major change that we are making is to replace the BC127 BLE radio module because it no longer exists. We decided to use an nRF52840 radio module (MDBT50Q-1MV2). This is the same module that many open-source development boards use, and we will be flashing it with the bootloader used in the Adafruit Feather nRF52840 Express.

This change will mean that we have to develop the firmware for the radio so that it behaves ‘just like’ or at least very close to the behavior of the BC127. That firmware development will also be hosted on github.

One of the things that we will lose by not having the BC127 is the analog audio in/out that it supported.
In the case of the nRF52, there is an opportunity to use digital audio (I2S) connection between the Teensy and the radio. We will be ensuring that the hardware connections are in place, however the audio capability will be on the back burner. That said, if anyone in the community has got the chops to jump in and start work on I2S communication with the nRF52, we would love it! Please let us know if you want to help out!

I will be posting updates to this thread as the development of the hardware and firmware advances.

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#2

Good news! Tympan Rev F is now in production!

The estimated ship date from the PCB manufacturer is March 6th. Once I get them into my lab, I will need to do QC and final assembly and testing, not trivial tasks, and the units will be made available in the store as they pass final testing.

You can see the project at Circuit Hub here.

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Tympan Hardware
Tympan Hardware
#3

It’s finally happening! I know y’all have been waiting and I am here to say that I was not just stringing you along or yanking your chain. Hardware is hard, but we have liftoff and we are catching some air!

Tympan Rev F is in the Firmware Flashing and Testing phase!

PXL_20240329_170313133
PXL_20240329_1703131334080×3072 3.53 MB

PXL_20240329_170344198
PXL_20240329_1703441984080×3072 2.09 MB

Emails will be going out to those who requested back-in-stock notifications for Rev E, as Rev F is the new hot thing.
Thanks for your patience! We can’t wait to get these out to you!

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#4

I’m a new user to the forum and owner of Tympan Rev F.
Arduino IDE installation went pretty smooth… Also
flashing program no problem. Tried the BasicGain and
OutputTone test programs. Programs loaded and ran, however,
no audio output. Examined Serial Monitor and upon startup
received a host of error messages related to AudioControlAIC3206,
followed by Setup Complete. Changing to start tone, amplitude = 0.0
followed by program adjusting gain up and down. No audio output.

What would be the appropriate place to discuss this issue and
send screen dumps, etc ?

Thanks for your help,
Dave

P.S. One compile error building example: EarpieceMixer_F32.h
references AudioEffectDelay_F32.h (changed F32 to f32)

#5

I am also a new user (Tympanoob).
I’ve had similar a problem.
In the .ino file, look for a line like
“Tympan audioHardware(TympanRev::E); //do TympanRev::smiley: or TympanRev::E”

Change it
from audioHardware(TympanRev::E);
to audioHardware(TympanRev::F);

and save the sketch in a different location.

In setup() you could also consider putting a
while (!Serial) { } loop around the statement that begins Serial.
as the T4 is very fast, and opening print statements can easily be bypassed without the wait.

Dan

#6

The same issues are present in all of the examples. Looks to be a part of the transition from Rev::E to Rev::F. In my experience, hardware is first to be done, software, second, documentation third. It’s an artifact of the development process, and not uncommon with new revisions.

Gets better with time as people check it out and report back with constructive observations!

Dan

#7

Dan,

Thanks… that solved my problems !!!
Are you working on hearing aid solutions ?

Dave

#8

Hi, @DaveT @Dan Welcome to the Tympan Forum!
I am sorry to hear that you are having trouble.
I confirmed all of the boards prior to shipping, and they were delivered with the Audio PassThru with Gain sketch, confirmed that it works.
Yes, if there is an example sketch that specifies Rev E, it needs to be changed to Rev F.

@Dan you are right, the documentation needs to catch up with the new Rev!

#9

Bio,
Thanks for the quick response… I picked up Dan’s solution and works fine.
Dave