The Solenoid Control System is a piece of hardware that I’ve developed in collaboration with the Helsinki based artist Atte Olsonen. A single controller box features 27 MOSFET driven and PWM controlled output channels for the solenoid motors, a powerful 12V PSU and a Teensy 4.1 microcontroller as the brain of the system. The System can be connected to ethernet and then controlled by sending UDP messages to the device. This allows simple control via MAX/MSP and easy integration into Ableton Live what Atte Olsonen needs to realise his sonic art projects. Below is a teaser video of a performance installation where he uses the system to mechanically produce sound. You can find other works he used it for here.
The Solenoid Control System consists of two sandwiched PCBs containing the MOSFET drivers, the connectors for the individual solenoid motors and indicator LEDs for each channel. The connectors are are SpeakOn types for the bigger, higher current motors and RCA connectors for smaller, lower current ones. The top and bottom plate are also made from PCB material. That makes it cost-effective and easy to assemble. The firmware for the Teensy was developed by Andrea Vogrig.
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