SmartScope

The SmartScope combines 3 high-end instruments into 1 mobile, smart device. Accessible previously only to high-tech labs, the SmartScope allows everyone to own a personal lab!

Starring a dual-channel 100MS/s oscilloscope, the SmartScope is the world's first lab instrument which works on both PC, laptop, tablet and smartphone. This is a must-have for any maker, and for anybody involved in hardware development!

Key Product Highlights

• 2x100MS/s 45MHz Oscilloscope
• 50MS/s Arbitrary Waveform Generator
• Digital logic analyzer at 100MS/s
• Digital waveform generator at 100MS/s
• 200 waveforms/second data updates

Open source

By giving full access to the framework of the SmartScope, a whole new dimension of possibilities is opening up. In its most basic form, this open framework allows you to hook up your creation to the extension ports of the SmartScope and control it from your PC or smartphone.

When you're taking on more advanced projects, you'll appreciate the full access you have to the powerful FPGA. The framework is based on FPGA registers which you can control from the PC or tablet, giving you full control over your FPGA from the first moment you're starting. Even more, since you can flash the FPGA through the USB controller, you don't need to invest in expensive programmers!

Even more advanced projects can make use of the full-speed bi-directional data transfer capabilities, transferring data to or from your device.

Initially, all source files of the full framework will be presented as a git repository, together with additional repositories focusing on extremely simple samples, showing how to start developing for each of the components of the SmartScope. This will hopefully create community branches, which will be added to our community site.
 

Why do you need a SmartScope?

An oscilloscope is the basic measurement device for anyone involved in hardware tinkering: it allows you to see how the voltage behaves at any point in your design, at any moment in time. Much like a breakpoint in software, which allows you to verify the value of all variables at a certain moment in time. The SmartScope should be the tool to optimize the debugging and development of your project.

SmartScope should appeal to:

• Arduino, Raspberry Pi & DIY enthusiasts: having access to an oscilloscope will greatly reduce your debugging time, as now you can literally see what's happening.
• Makers: using the open-source framework, you can use the SmartScope to control your inventions from your smartphone!
• Students & Teachers: combining an oscilloscope, AWG and logic analyzer into a single mobile device makes the SmartScope a great addition to any student lab desk. Its open-source framework can serve both as example, as well as starting place for your code. You're encouraged to publish working projects on our community page at www.lab-nation.com!
• Professional hardware engineers: even though this page is strongly aimed towards makers and hardware enthusiast, the SmartScope was born from an analysis of what performance is required to visualize any job but the extreme high-end -- such as DDR or RF implementations. Therefore, we're sure that any electronics engineer will appreciate the combination of performance and versatility offered by the SmartScope.

Compatibility - Cross Platform

We're proud to announce that the SmartScope is the world's first instrument to work on iOS, Android, Windows, Linux and OSX! This true cross-platform-compatibility was achieved by choosing for the Xamarin framework from the very beginning of UI development. As a result, the SmartScope works on virtually all PCs, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

Graphical User Interface

On all existing USB oscilloscopes, the software clearly has been an afterthought. Not so for the SmartScope! While competitors try to imitate traditional scopes by literally demanding the user to rotate knobs with a mouse, the SmartScope reinvents the way we will operate oscilloscopes: by making full use of the touchscreen!

The PC software is identical to the mobile version. With intuitive operations (scroll to zoom or simply drag a rectangle, dragging to reposition) and innovative features (window pops to foreground on trigger) it's our mission to continually provide you with the software you need to aid your projects.

Will the SmartScope work on my smartphone/tablet?

The SmartScope is the world's first instrument targeting compatibility with both iOS and Android. Although the required functionality (USB-OTG) is becoming a standard for Android devices the past few years, we were not able to get cooperation from Apple (yet ;). As such, our team set out to start from jailbroken iOS devices, and hack our way to the USB controller, which we eventually succeeded in. However, this means the SmartScope will only be recognized in case you apply a jailbreak patch to your iOS smartphone (which is a free, legal software operation that takes 10 minutes of your time).

On Android, USB-OTG is supported since Android v3.1, however it depends on the age and quality of your phone whether USB-OTG was implemented correctly. There are sites describing how to check for USB-OTG functionality, in case you want to be sure.

More specifically:

• Windows: driver available for XP, Win7, Win8
• OSX: supported, no driver needed (uses generic USB driver)
• Linux: supported, no driver needed (uses generic USB driver)
• Android: tested and verified on $52 Q88 tablet, Sony Xperia Z. More will be tested soon, but no problems expected as phones/tablets either support USB openly or not.
• iOS: requires 5-minute legal software jailbreak patch. Tested and verified on iPad1, iPad2, iPhone 5, iPhone 5S. Will not work on iPhones 1,2,3 as they simply don't have a USB chip.

Power/Sync port

The Power/Sync port is nothing more than a microUSB port, whose purpose is twofold:

• In case your tablet/smartphone is running low on battery, you can power the SmartScope through this port. This can be done using any standard microUSB charger cable.
• More advanced, we have foreseen the possibility to connect multiple SmartScopes together. In such case, synchronisation between the different SmartScopes is essential. This can be achieved easily by connecting both devices through their Power/Sync port using the cable provided in the 4-channel reward package.

1. Installing the software and connecting the SmartScope
2. Software User Manual
3. Hardware
4. General
5. Other

Installing the software and connecting the SmartScope

All of our software installations contain a demonstration mode, which is automatically activated in case no SmartScope is connected. This allows everyone to evaluate the software.

• Windows
  • Install the SmartScope software on Windows
  • Connect the SmartScope to a Windows pc
• OSX
  • Install the SmartScope software on OSX
  • Connect the SmartScope to a Mac
• Linux
  • Install the SmartScope software on Ubuntu
  • Install the SmartScope software on Fedora
  • Connect the SmartScope to a Linux box
• Android
  • Is my Android device compatible?
  • Install the SmartScope software on Android
  • Connect the SmartScope to an Android phone/tablet
• iOS
  • Install SmartScope on iOS with Cydia
  • Connect the SmartScope to an iOS phone/tablet

Software User Manual

• Global topics
  • Main menu
  • Cue card
• Oscilloscope functionality
• Arbitraty Waveform Generator (AWG)

Hardware

• Hardware specs
• Using the micro USB connector
• AUX connector pinout
• Probe calibration

General

• Known issues
• Changelog
• Lab-Nation main page
• User Support Forum
• Suggestion box

Other

• Sandbox