When working with basic electronics, a multimeter is usually all you really need, however, there’s a lot more going on than you can tell by simply measuring the instantaneous voltage and other stats. To peel things back another layer, you need an oscilloscope, telling you whether what you’re measuring is a constant value, or if there is a variety of oscillations or even signals combining to form what you see with this instrument.
Traditionally, these have been extremely expensive instruments, but with the availability of powerful hardware for extremely reasonable prices, you can find these for under $100, or even much less.
The Labrador from EspoTek takes a somewhat different approach than most ‘scopes, and takes the form of single board that interfaces with your computer or smart device for control and display. As shown in the video below from its fully-funded CrowdSupply campaign, you can plug it into a breadboard to allow it to function as a oscilloscope, multimeter, and logic analyzer. Additionally, it has the capability to act as a power supply as well as a function generator, making it a very versatile tool.
[vimeo 179257602 w=640 h=360]
Given its multi-platform capabilities, and open source software, this could be a great way to recycle an old laptop or unused smartphone into a versatile piece of lab equipment!
