Digital transducer

Abstract

A device for converting mechanical vibrations into a digital signal uses a iaphragm having a reflective surface with a plurality of reflective facets disposed on a face of the diaphragm. The diaphragm is mounted such that it will be displaced a distance proportional to the external stimulus, such as acoustic energy, it receives. A light source provides a continuous optical beam which is directed onto the reflective surface and reflected by the surface onto an optical detector, which in turn, produces an electrical signal identifying the position on the detector illuminated by the reflected beam. As the diaphragm vibrates in response to the external stimulus receive, the optical beam will be reflected in different directions thereby changing the position that the beam strikes the optical detector. A microprocessor receives the electrical signals from the optical detector and produces a digital signal corresponding to the displacement of the diaphragm.