Adri/Ardu-Scope

On many occasions you might need a oscilloscope or spectrum analyser. The cost of USB scopes has significantly dropped over the last few years, for example 2-channel, 10 MHz pico-scope 2000 series. But what if the cost and specifications of even a USB scope like this is beyond what is required, or the cost is still too high ? What if I want to get an oscilloscope into the hands of developers, hackers and students - how could I run an entire remote laboratory in my teaching ?

The Adri/Ardu-Scope (short for Adrian's Arduino-Scope) considers how to make a 2 channel oscilloscope, spectrum analyser, spectrogram and cross-correlation analyser that could sample signals at around 153 kHz, more than adequate for audio, accelerometer, vibration and ultrasonic (40 kHz) investigations. I have limited the project to only 2 channels to allow both channel's data to be grabbed fast enough to appear "simultaneous", although the data is actually sampled one channel at a time. The hope with the project was to be able to create high school/University level laboratories for students who are remote (isolated by COVID), to get hands on, practical experience with signals and time-series data collection. All that's required is a ~$5 Arduino and Python-3 (+ numpy, matplotlib, pyserial packages) to create a practical learning environment.

It's also possible to talk directly to the UNO via the serial port without the python3 interface. This allows you to stream the data off in ether ascii (human readable but slow) or binary (fast but unreadable by a human) to help develop your project if so desired. Type a question mark (?) from a serial monitor operating at 115200 baud to bring up the menu of comands available.