Compact Oscilloscope with VGA Display (002-3) ECE342-W23

Arduino
PCB
Enclosure
Junior Design

This project involved the design and development of an oscilloscope. It’s intended to be used in both home and lab settings, where end-users can use the system to test or measure electrical circuits. With limited functionality but great usability and simple interface, this oscilloscope is ideal for inexpensive take-home lab kits or use in high school labs. The design is centered around an Arduino Due microcontroller, which is able to read analog voltages, process data, and output VGA protocol all at a very fast and stable rate. The design also features a custom PCB to support probe connectors, a user interface, and main circuitry. Outputs can be displayed on an external display using a VGA cable that connects to the system. The display features include scalable voltage and time axes, an adjustable trigger level, 2-channel simultaneous display, numbered labels, and sample rate calculation. All the electronics in the system are strongly secured within a rugged 3D-printed enclosure with a magnetically-locking lid. The most notable accomplishments in this project include surviving a 3-foot drop test, implementing reliable trigger functionality, allowing modularity for all external connections including display, and optimizing the user experience for simplicity and usability. One of the main challenges encountered in this project was the VGA output. Many hours were spent trying to get an output to correctly display, even at the most basic levels of integration. After much trial and error, a somewhat smooth, reliable output was achieved. A key limitation of this project is its sample rate. Originally, the project was designed to sample two channels at a rate of at least 1MHz, but this goal was realized to be impossible with the Arduino Due and the short timeline of the project. However, a sampling rate of 100kHz was still achieved by the system, but increasing this rate is certainly an area for future improvement. Overall, the project was very successful.

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Artifacts

Name Description
Project Summary Includes a description of the design problem, how we approached the problem, and several adjustments that were made during the project. Also includes several lessons we learned as a team.   Download
Project Summary Video Junior Design II Oscilloscope Project Summary Video   Link