A Maker by the name of Gabriel Anzziani has designed a rather impressive oscilloscope watch built around Atmel’s versatile ATxmega256A3U MCU.
The device boasts all the trappings of a modern watch (time, calendar and alarm), along with all the features of the popular Xprotolab -oscilloscope, waveform generator, logic analyzer, protocol sniffer and frequency counter.
“With access to the hardware design, users can write their own applications. The brain of the device is a powerful 8-bit XMEGA microcontroller, easy to program in C or assembly,” Anzziani explained in a recent Kickstarter post. “Special attention has been given to extend the battery life of the device. When the oscilloscope is not used, the analog section is turned off, so the estimated battery life will be over 30 days on each charge. When using the oscilloscope, the battery will last about 12 hours.”
Aside from Atmel’s stalwart ATxmega256A3U, key Oscilloscope Watch specs include:
- Sharp Memory LCD display 1.28″, 128×128 pixels
- Approximate watch size: 2″ x 1.6″ x 0.6″
- Li-Ion Battery 400mAh, rechargeable via the micro USB connector
- Internal PDI interface
- 4 tactile switches
- USB connectivity: PC app, Android app.
Oscilloscope-specific features include:
- Two analog inputs
- Maximum sampling rate: 4MSPS
- Analog bandwidth: 200kHz
- Resolution: 8bits
- Input impedance: 1MΩ, 15pF
- Buffer size per channel: 4096 bytes
- Input voltage range: -14V to +20V
According to Anzziani, the electronic design is ready, with the firmware similar to that of the Xprotolab’s, plus watch-specific functions.
“The first revision of the PCB is ready – a four layer board. Most resistors and capacitors are size 0805, and most ICs are not in the tiniest package available, so there is room for improvement for the next version,” he added.
“The PCB assembly has been modeled in 3D in order to design the enclosure, a home made enclosure has been built. This an initial prototype, the final design will have a better look, and the goal is to make the size smaller.”
Interested in learning more about the Atmel-powered Oscilloscope Watch? You can check out the official Kickstarter page here.
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 